Double Trouble

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Chapter 1

February 2000

Buffy and Willow watched the last of the trucks haul away the debris from the now demolished Lowell House. It had been almost two months since the events of Christmas Eve and things had happened quickly.

Riley had been gone for a couple weeks when Buffy received a phone call at her dorm asking her to meet him for coffee. It had been uncomfortable and awkward for her, but it was also something she knew she needed to do.

"I'm sorry that I used you like that, Riley," she told him after they had settled at a table, "but if I had to do it over again, I'd do the same thing." She looked into his sad eyes and then down into her coffee cup. "You must understand, I have a duty. It's my job to help keep this world safe from the forces of darkness. In this case, the forces turned out to be a crazy scientist and a bunch of Frankenstein demons."

Riley nodded. "I understand about duty, Buffy. I really do. It's just, well, I grew to care for you. A lot. It hurts to know that you never really cared about me." He hesitated a bit and then asked, "This guy, this vampire, you and he are together?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't something I was expecting to happen. Especially with Spike." An ironic smile formed at her mouth. "Slayers in general aren't supposed to have any kind of personal life. And they certainly aren't supposed to fall in love with a vampire." She shrugged. "It just so happens that I've met two extraordinary vampires in my life."

Riley looked shocked. "Two?"

"Uh yeah. Long story." She decided to change the subject. "So did you get into a lot of trouble with your superiors?"

Now it was Riley's turn to shrug. "Enough. On the one hand, I stopped a cold-blooded murder. On the other, I helped destroy a long-term research project into which millions of dollars had been sunk." He took a deep breath. "So I was given a choice. I could leave the service with an O-T-H discharge..."

"O-T-H?" Buffy interrupted.

"Other Than Honorable," Riley answered.

"Oh. God, Riley, I'm sorry." Buffy exclaimed.

"It's okay, Buffy. The other choice was to take a reduction in rank and join another squad in South America. There's been an increase in demon activity down there, and they've dispatched a squad on a search and destroy mission. So I'm off to Belize later tonight. I just came back here to gather my stuff, tie up some loose ends." He looked at Buffy when he said the last.

"Oh." Buffy lowered her eyes to her mug again. "What's going to happen with that lab?" she asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"It's going to be announced that Lowell House has Radon and is being demolished. The land around it will be paved over to prevent any further gas escaping into the area. The men will all transfer to other colleges."

"And Professor Walsh?"

Riley shrugged. "I was assured that she would be "taken care of" whatever that means." Standing up Riley shrugged into his jacket. "Look, Buffy, I have to go now. You take care of yourself, okay?"

"You too, Riley. And again, thanks for everything you did for me. For us."

Riley nodded and left.

True to his words, the announcement that Lowell House would be demolished was made shortly thereafter. The men disappeared, but hardly anyone noticed. Now that the building was cleared, the paving would begin the next day.

"Do you think all this is actually over?" Willow asked. "Or do you think they just moved operations somewhere else?"

Buffy gave Willow a concerned look. "Good question, Will. I hope that we've seen the last of this, but who knows. Riley said the government had sunk millions of dollars into this project. Somehow I don't think they'll just forget about it."

Willow and Buffy had been rebuilding their relationship slowly but steadily. Mostly it had come about because of the changes Willow herself had been going through. After working with Jenny's coven, she decided that she'd like to find a coven of her own to work with and learn from. Unfortunately the Wiccans at Sunnydale University were a group dedicated more to bake sales and female empowerment than magic. However one girl, Tara Maclay, was a true witch. She and Willow had become friends and to Willow's shock, she found that she had stronger feelings for Tara than she had ever had for another
woman.

Buffy had been a little freaked when she learned about Willow's change in orientation and was voicing her misgivings to Spike one night when he put it all into perspective for her. Kissing her lightly on the shoulder he simply said, "We love who we love, pet." Since she was lying naked snuggled up with an equally naked vampire with whom she had just been making love for the past hour, she got what he was saying.

Her acceptance of Tara had been the beginning of her and Willow's reconciliation.

The reconciliation with Xander came about in an entirely different way. Spike had taken patrol alone one night when Buffy was working on a paper. During a sweep in the area around The Bronze, he heard the sounds of a fight and upon investigation found Xander Harris being attacked by three human muggers. He had been holding his own until one of the men hit him in the back of the head with a length of wood. Once down, the men started hitting and kicking the defenseless young man.
Spike leapt into the fray throwing the men away from Xander, frightening them off with his game face and then helped the injured boy to his feet. He had taken him to the hospital where Xander received several stitches and pain medication and then taken him home making sure he had everything he needed before leaving.

Neither man ever talked about the incident, but Xander's entire attitude changed with regard to Spike. They weren't best buddies, but a wary friendship was beginning to develop.

The biggest surprise since Buffy told Spike she loved him was how her mother had reacted to the news. Gathering their courage, they sat Joyce down one evening and informed her of their relationship.

"Well I wondered if you two were ever going to tell me," she said calmly. At the surprised expressions on their faces, she merely shook her head and said, "Buffy, I realize I might not be the most observant of mothers, but even I could tell something was up between you two on Christmas Day."

Sighing she frowned slightly. "I'm not going to say I'm thrilled about this. Quite frankly, Buffy, I'm worried." Joyce looked directly into Spike's eyes and told him,

"Spike, I like you personally, you know that. But you're a vampire. I just don't think it's a good idea for you and Buffy to be romantically involved. I want her to have the chance to have as normal a life as a girl in her position can have. Being with a vampire is not normal."

"I understand that, Joyce. Believe me, we two," he nodded in Buffy's direction, "are well aware that this is a very bad idea." He smiled a little before continuing. "Unfortunately, as much as we've tried to deny it, we can't. As much as we've hoped our feelings would go away, they haven't. But I promise you, Joyce, I'll do everything in my power to make Buffy happy. I'll do everything in my power to help her do her job and keep her safe. I love her with all my heart."

And so Joyce had reluctantly and with misgivings given them her blessing.

The only one that was still vehemently opposed to their relationship was Giles. No amount of discussion changed his mind. He tolerated Spike, barely. But there was never a minute when Buffy was with Giles that she wasn't aware of his censure. It was causing a schism between the two of them that tore at Buffy's heart. And she knew that the only way to fix things between them was for her to break up with Spike, preferably by staking him. That was never going to happen. On the day that Giles informed her that he was returning to England, she had simply gotten up and walked out of Giles' apartment without saying a word. She didn't come by Spike's crypt that night or the next. When he went to her dorm to find out what was wrong, no one was there. By now he was getting frantic with worry and called Xander.

"Giles is leaving and Buffy's closed down. She's not talking to me and Willow says she's not talking to her, but we didn't know she wasn't talking to you either. You'd better find her, man. She shouldn't be alone in this condition."

Spike searched all their patrol areas and finally found her fighting two demons in one of the cemeteries. She was unleashing all of her fury against the two so Spike just held back, available if she needed help but otherwise staying out of her way.

When she finally dispatched them, Spike came up to her, put his arms around her trembling body and held her despite her protests, curses and shoves. At last Buffy gave in and clutching at his shirt she sobbed into his chest like a lost little girl.

He took her back to his crypt and kissing her gently, he began to slowly undress her, offering her comfort in the way he knew best. At first Buffy just stood there unresponsive to his touch but as his hands caressed her tenderly, as his lips slid sensuously over her flesh, her breathing began to quicken and she began to lean into his touch. Spike unbuttoned and slid her blouse down her arms, placing kisses along her shoulders and across her chest to the top of her bra. Reaching behind her he unhooked and lowered the bra and then took one exposed nipple into his mouth. Buffy moaned softly as he tugged at the swelling flesh. His tongue swiped across the sensitive nerve endings causing Buffy to press closer to him.

Switching to the other breast, he sucked and teased while his hands swept over her back, hips and buttocks. Reaching in front of her, he undid the button on her slacks, lowered the zipper and pushing the waistband down slightly, slid his hand down her taut, flat belly. He slowly lowered himself to his knees kissing his way down her ribs, stopping at her belly button and inserting his tongue into the small indentation, then moving across her body to kiss her belly and hipbones. Pushing her slacks down a little more, he kissed right above the soft curls between her thighs slipping his tongue under the waistband of her panties to give her clit the tiniest of licks. By now, Buffy had her head thrown back and her hips pressed forward to his questing mouth. Spike pushed the pants down farther, following their progress with his mouth. First one thigh and then the other were lavished with lips and tongue and blunt human teeth. Buffy held onto his head as he lifted one foot removing the shoe and pushing the trouser leg off and then repeating with the other leg. Pushing her legs slightly apart, he worked his way back up kissing the tender flesh of her inner thighs. He could smell her arousal and his shaft rubbed painfully against the rough cloth of his jeans.

Pushing his face upward, he inhaled deeply of her scent at the crotch of her panties. Sticking out his tongue, he licked at the wet patch that appeared there. Buffy's grip on his hair was painful now, but Spike ignored it, too lost in her taste, scent and feel. Hooking his fingers in the waistband of her panties, he pulled them down, exposing the soft wet curls. He drew the tiny scrap of material all the way off and then eagerly pushed his face between her legs.

Buffy cried out when she felt his vigorously lapping tongue. The hard point flashed back and forth over her clit and in and out of her opening causing her to keen at the sensation. Sucking gently he drew the sensitive nub into his mouth brushing it with the flat of his tongue, then released it and thrust the pointed tip of his tongue deeply into her, then out, then in again. When he began sucking at her clit again, Buffy's legs trembled and she wasn't sure how much longer they would support her.

Sensing her weakness, Spike gave her one last twirling lick and shooting up to his feet, swept her up in his arms and laid her on his couch. Pulling back from her, he ripped his own clothes off and covering her completely with his body, he began kissing her deeply with ever-growing passion. Buffy spread her legs and tried to take him in, but he had other ideas. Once again he began to work his way down her body, stopping and exploring each erogenous zone on the way. He nuzzled her neck and then moved up to nibble on her earlobe and huff a gentle breath into her ear causing Buffy to shiver from the sensation. Lowering his head, he took a nipple into his mouth, sucking and nipping at it, pulling it into his mouth and then sliding his tongue across the engorged tip causing her to moan and push her breast further into his mouth. Moving further down her body, he kissed and licked his way down her ribs and across her stomach and then bypassing that sweet-smelling area between her legs, he lowered himself to her feet where he began sucking each toe, kissing the soles of her feet and gently rubbing them.
Buffy spread herself even wider, offering herself to him, needing him, begging for his attention. Spike ran his hands up her inner thighs and back down again in an erotic massage flicking one finger across her clit with each upstroke. Buffy's hips were thrusting up and down now and she was crying his name over and over, begging him to enter her. She was so wet her thighs glistened. Spike's own need had become increasingly painful. He had not allowed Buffy to touch him and his flesh craved contact. Once again moving up her body, he fitted himself to her and slowly entered, shuddering in pleasure as her heat scalded him. Buffy's arms and legs wrapped around him immediately, holding him to her, locking him in place. He began to move in a slow, steady rhythm all the while kissing her mouth and her neck, murmuring his love for her into her ear. As the pressure built and their climaxes neared Buffy clasped him tighter to her moaning, "Oh god, Spike, I'm gonna, I'm gonna..." Spike thrust harder in response, whispering to her, begging her to come for him. Buffy turned her head to the side and Spike responded to her invitation. Slipping into game face he sank his fangs gently into her neck. It had been weeks since he last bit her and her reaction was instantaneous. A mortal man would have been crushed in her embrace, but Spike reveled in it. His pace increased as her blood filled his mouth, his thrusting coming ever harder, faster and more demanding. Buffy grabbed his head keeping his mouth in place on her neck and answering him thrust for thrust came with a howling scream. The clenching of her inner walls encased Spike, pulled him in and he followed her into an explosive climax.

Buffy fell asleep wrapped in Spike's arms. He held her close to him, watching as she slept and imagining a dozen scenarios for the slow painful death of one Rupert Giles.

Chapter 2

The next day, despite a clear, sunny sky, Spike made his way to Giles' apartment. Huddling in the shade hiding under his blanket, he knocked on the door and waited impatiently for the Watcher to answer. Opening the door, Giles glared when he saw who was there.

"Let me in, Giles, before I burst into flames." Giles had worked an uninvite spell on his home the night after Christmas and Spike had not been allowed in since.

"Should you burst into flames, I shall rejoice in your demise," Giles told him coldly.

Spike tilted his head to one side and said, "You know, I'm supposed to be the evil one here, but you're the one destroying your Slayer."

Giles' eyes flashed in fury. "How dare you!"

Spike said as calmly as he could while trying to evade the encroaching rays of sun, "I dare because I'm right and you know it. She loves you, Giles. You're the closest thing she has to a father since that pillock Joyce was married to scarpered off. And now you're going to abandon her too? Ow! Son of a bitch." This last was said as the sunlight hit his hand.

Giles watched in satisfaction as the vampire swiped at his smoking flesh and then with a sigh of resignation stepped back and said, "Come in, you sod."

Spike entered speedily and heaved a sigh of relief as the door was closed against his certain, painful death. Giles walked past him without saying a word, went into the kitchen, poured a couple drinks and returned, handing one to Spike. Spike looked at the drink in surprise, but took it and nodded his thanks.

"I'm not leaving to hurt Buffy or punish her, Spike," Giles told him. "I'm leaving because I'm of no use to her anymore. She relies on you, not me."

"Bollocks, Giles. The girl needs you. Hell, we all need you. You're the one with all the knowledge. Yeah, I know some stuff, but you have the research material and you have the training. Plus," Spike added staring somberly at Giles, "the girl loves you."

"She loves you too, Spike, and that I cannot tolerate. It was bad enough with Angel, but he at least had a soul. What do you have?"

"A heart full of love for her," the vampire told him seriously. Ignoring Giles' grimace of distaste, he stood up and started to pace. "I know that you don't think I can love her without that precious soul you're always nattering on about, but consider this. You never have to worry about me waking up one night and turning evil. I'm already evil, so no surprises there. You don't have to worry about me trying to kill you all in your beds, because the chip prevents that. And you don't have to worry about me suddenly falling out of love with her and hurting her. After all," Spike grinned, "the last relationship I was in lasted over 100 years and I didn't feel a fraction for Dru that I feel for Buffy."

Spike stopped pacing and dropping the grin told the Watcher. "Stay, Giles, she needs you."

Giles looked into the face of the vampire and wavered. It had never been his intention to hurt Buffy. Had he been too pig-headed? The relationship was wrong, but he knew that she was happy. Spike was a strong fighter and fiercely loyal to her. Willow and Xander had even started to accept him.

"I'll think about it some more, Spike, that's all I can promise."

Spike nodded his acceptance. Getting up, he picked up his blanket and prepared to return to his crypt. It was a start. He knew Giles would never truly accept him, but as long as the Watcher remained in Buffy's life, he would put up with the man's dislike. He didn't care about that one way or the other.
He cared only about Buffy.

Giles watched the vampire run from shadow to shadow until he disappeared into the sewers. He wasn't sure what the future held, but he knew he needed to find a new place for himself. The truth was he was bored stiff sitting around all day in his apartment. Perhaps it was time to look for another job. Picking up the morning paper, he opened it to the classified section.

***

Buffy listened to the message on her answering machine with growing trepidation. "Buffy, this is Giles. Please call me as soon as you receive this message."

What more was there to say? Had he already bought his airplane ticket? Didn't he need time to dispose of his belongings first or was he just going to give it all away? Buffy stared at the phone for a long time before, drawing in a deep breath, she picked it up and placed the call.

"Giles, it's Buffy. You wanted me to call you?"

Giles noticed right away the flat, restrained tenor of Buffy's voice. Spike had been right about one thing; he had hurt his Slayer deeply.

"Ah yes, Buffy. I wanted to let you know that it appears I won't be returning to England after all. I've bought The Magic Box and intend to become a shopkeeper."

Silence.

"Buffy, did you hear me? I'm not leaving."

Buffy quietly hung up the phone, sat down on her bed, placed her head in her hands and began to weep. It was this scene that Willow walked in on when she returned to the room after class. Hurrying to Buffy she asked anxiously, "Buffy, what's wrong? Did something happen to Spike? Or, or is it your mother? Please, Buffy, tell me what's wrong."

Hiccuping and sniffing Buffy told her friend, "I just t-talked to Giles and he said he's not leaving." Buffy looked into her friend's joy-filled face and they fell into each other's arms hugging and laughing. Wiping the tears from her face Buffy exclaimed, "God, I haven't cried this much in, well, forever."

"Oh," Willow cried, "we'll have to tell Xander. I know he didn't say much but he was really upset too."

Buffy nodded and then getting up she said, "I'm going to go over to see Giles. You want to come with?"

Willow eagerly agreed and the two girls hurried out of their dorm room

***

Giles was depressed. He didn't know what he had expected when he called Buffy today, but it certainly hadn't been being hung up on. Maybe it had been a mistake to listen to that ridiculous vampire. Buffy had resigned herself to his leaving and now she didn't even care if he stayed or not. As he sat there wallowing in self-pity, the door burst open and two laughing, happy girls entered. Looking up in surprise, he realized what a fool he had been.

The three looked at each other for a long second and then Giles' arms were filled with his surrogate daughters. "I knew you wouldn't leave us, Giles, I just knew it," Willow babbled happily.

The three sat down and Giles explained his business plan. "I looked over the books and was amazed at the profit margin for that place. The location is excellent, I can build up the inventory and there's even a large room in the back that we can make into a training room for you, Buffy. And, although I hate to say this, there's even access to the sewers so that that idiot boyfriend of yours and come and go in relative safety."

Buffy looked at Giles in surprise. "You're going to allow Spike to come to the shop?"

Giles gave Buffy a look of resignation. "I don't approve, Buffy. I will never approve. However, it appears that you've made up that stubborn mind of yours in this matter so I'll have to accept it. Unwillingly, mind you, but I'll accept it." When Buffy's face began to blossom into a smile, Giles leaned forward and said very seriously, "Understand this though, Buffy. If I learn he's feeding from humans, if I learn he's doing anything that will put you or any of us in harm's way, I will take it upon myself to stake him.

"The chip," Buffy began, her smile fading.

"We've discussed this before," Giles stated firmly. "The chip stops him from killing. It does not stop him from feeding or committing any number of other horrors, physical violence being the least of them. I do not place great trust in the chip's ability to hold him in check, nor do I trust his good intentions. You may believe him capable of reason, Buffy, I do not."

Buffy looked directly into her watcher's eye and said just as firmly, "And you understand this, Giles. If I feel you're trying to harm Spike without absolutely solid-gold proof of wrong-doing, I'll stop you by any means necessary."

Watcher and Slayer looked into each other's deadly serious face and nodded understanding of each other's position.

"So, Giles," Willow chirped in trying to break the tension, "tell us more about the business. When are you planning on opening it up? Because we really need to get that store open soon. Tara and I are having a terrible time practicing some of our spells because we can't get the right ingredients around here."

Giles and Buffy relaxed having made their points and entered into the conversation regarding The Magic Box.

"Well I want to do some remodeling before I open as well as order inventory. You could be helpful there, Willow, by letting me know what things you and Tara need. I thought of hiring Xander to help me with the building of shelving and storage cases. He's become quite capable with a hammer since he started working construction."

"Maybe you could hire Spike to help too," Buffy chimed in. At Giles' look of disbelief she added, "Look, Giles, he's super strong so that'd be a help with lifting and stuff, plus Magic Box shopkeepers seem to have a limited shelf-life. He could be like your bodyguard or something. And it would be a legitimate way for him to earn some money."

"It would also mean I would have to be around him all the time. If you remember correctly, Buffy, that was not something I enjoyed tremendously when he was staying here."

Buffy grinned, "Yeah, but you'd be his boss and could order him around and he'd have to do as you say."

Giles did not look convinced, but promised that he'd consider it. Good grief, Spike as an employee. The mind boggled.

Chapter 3

Opening day at The Magic Box was chaotic. It started out quietly, but soon escalated into full-out pandemonium. By the time closing time arrived everyone, including a reluctantly employed vampire, was exhausted. "My God," Giles groaned, "I think I'd rather face an apocalypse than another day like this. I had no idea that business would be so brisk opening day."

Willow lifted her head wearily from the table around which they sat. "I told you, Giles, this place was closed too long. Everyone was out of everything unless they wanted to drive all the way to LA."

Spike had Buffy's feet in his lap and was rubbing them gently. "I'll tell you right now, Rupert, if this keeps up you'd better hire a shop assistant because I'm not waiting on that lot. You have no idea how many times I wanted to bite those pillocks today."

Giles glared at him and then looked at Buffy and said with exasperation, "This is exactly why I didn't want to hire him. Now he's threatening to eat my customers."

"He's not going to eat your customers, Giles, but he has a point. I think you need to hire an assistant. You can't be here all the time, and Spike really isn't salesclerk material. Put an ad in the paper. Surely there's someone capable of working in a magic shop in this town."

***

The ad was duly placed and the very morning it appeared an attractive young woman with dark-blonde hair entered the shop. Looking up, Giles frowned slightly trying to place the girl as she marched up to him, laid the newspaper down on the counter with the ad circled and stated, "You should hire me. I would be an excellent employee. I'm honest, intelligent, good with money, punctual and have a pleasing personality."

"Do I know you?" Giles asked.

The young woman stared at him for a minute and said, "Yes. I graduated from Sunnydale High School where you were the librarian before you blew it up."

Giles blinked at the girl's forthrightness. Searching his memory he finally dredged up a name. "Of course, it's Anya isn't it?"

"Yes, Anya Christina Emanuella Jenkins. Now, do I get the job?"

"Uh, well you see, uh, Anya," Giles began.

"Oi, Rupert, where you want this lot?" Spike entered the shop carrying a large box of scented beeswax candles. Noticing the girl, he stopped. "Oh, didn't know you had a customer." He started to turn back when the girl stated bluntly, "Did you know that that man is a vampire, Mr. Giles?"

Both men stared at her in surprise. "You could tell Spike is a vampire just by looking at him?" Giles asked in astonishment.

"Of course, can't everyone?" the girl asked. "I mean just look at him. No one has a complexion that pale unless they're dead, and since he's walking around that means he's either a zombie or a vampire. He's not shuffling and he can talk intelligently, so that means he's not a zombie. Of course he could be a Revenant, but Revenants are very rare. Therefore, he's a vampire."

Giles was staring at the girl in amazement. She had stated her observation as if it were the most natural thing in the world. And since it was not the most natural thing in the world, the world being determinedly blind when it came to the supernatural, it meant that there was more to Miss Jenkins than met the eye.

Spike was looking at the girl with his eyes narrowed. He too had come to the conclusion that there was something not quite right here, but all of his senses told him that she was fully human.

"As you can see, I'm also observant. You should hire me. I can start right away."

"Um yes, well if you'll complete this application I'll certainly give you all due consideration. However, as this is the first day the ad's been in the paper, I believe I should allow others to also apply."

Shrugging, Anya took the application Giles handed her, went to one of the tables and began filling it out, completely ignoring the two staring men. When she had finished, she brought it back to Giles stating, "I'll be waiting for your call. You won't find anyone nearly as excellent as I to fill this position." And with that she strode from the shop.

"Odd bird," Spike noted. Giles agreed and then coming around the counter proceeded to show Spike where to set up the candles.

Over the next three days, an assortment of people came into The Magic Box to apply for the clerking position, and Giles made an interesting discovery. When one owned a magic shop it appeared that only odd people applied to work there. For the most part, they were young, female, black of hair and black of clothing, with bits of metal attached to various parts of their anatomies. Occasionally the female would be older and looked to be a member of the Stevie Nicks fan club. One applicant, a young man with wild eyes, claimed to be the reincarnation of Aleister Crowley. Giles tore his application up as soon as he left the shop. None was in the least bit suitable. On the evening of the third day of taking applications, Giles gave in and called Anya Jenkins. She started work the next morning.

And true to her word she was an excellent employee, well versed in the arcane merchandise handled by the shop, able to answer numerous questions without hesitation and eager to ensure that anyone who entered the shop made a purchase. "I'm afraid I can only pay you minimum wage to start, Anya," Giles had informed his new employee. "However, you will receive a commission on each sale you make." At the end of the first week her commissions nearly equaled her salary.

There had been a little friction between Buffy and Anya at first. Buffy picked up on the fact right away that Anya found Spike attractive and was putting out semaphore-sized signals that she was interested. Buffy let it quickly be known that Spike was in no way available and if Anya valued her hide she'd stay well away from Buffy's vampire.

Spike found it all very amusing. Buffy found it necessary to increase her training time and was at the shop whenever her school schedule permitted it. Spike kept finding places for them to sneak off to. Giles gritted his teeth and threatened staking, beheading and death by flame-thrower if the trysting vampire didn't quit using the store as his own personal love nest. Spike found even more places to drag Buffy off to.

***

The Magic Box became Scooby central with all manner of research taking place there. At first Anya wasn't a part of the group, but little by little she added insight and advice that proved surprisingly helpful. Her knowledge of demons was truly impressive. Willow and Xander felt uncomfortable around the girl, however. She had come to Sunnydale High shortly after the disastrous Spring Fling and had hung out with Cordelia for a short while.

It was at the Spring Fling that Cordelia and Oz had caught Willow and Xander acting upon a sudden and unexpected attraction. While searching for their significant others, they had found the two friends locked in an embrace, kissing passionately. Cordelia had been deeply hurt and humiliated, as had Oz, but Willow and Oz had been able to work through it. Cordelia had never forgiven Xander and had moved to Los Angeles shortly after graduation.

For some reason Willow felt that there was more to their discomfort around Anya than the fact that the girl had been a friend of Cordelia's for a few short weeks. Even Tara felt that there was something different about Giles' new employee. "She's human of course, there's no doubt there," Tara had said one night while the two girls cuddled in bed. "But her aura is strange."

"Strange how, baby?" Willow had asked.

"It's old, Willow. Really old. Older than Spike's even."

"Spike has an aura?" Willow had asked surprised. "I thought only humans or, you know, living things had auras."

"Well Spike is living, in a way," Tara had answered. "He's animate and sentient and vibrant. Spike definitely has an aura and a strong one at that. His is strange too. Most vampire's have auras that are all black, and Spike's is too when he's fighting or angry, but most of the time there's a lot of blue and red in his."

"From the chip?"

"Maybe, but I wouldn't think the chip could change his aura." Tara shrugged, "But since it's a behavior modification device, maybe is does have an affect. But to get back to Anya, her aura feels many times older than Spike's, as much as 10 times older, which makes no sense. That would mean that she's over 1000 years old."

"Weird," was all that Willow could add to the conversation.

Chapter 4

The vampire attacked and Buffy was thrown against the wall with enough force to drive her breath from her body. Rolling quickly, she narrowly evaded a kick to her head. Flipping to her feet, she swung around, kicking out, but the vampire ducked and came back with a strong right cross.

Buffy blocked the punch and returned one of her own that connected, knocking her opponent back several feet. A series of punches, kicks, flips and rolls followed. An opening presented itself and Buffy jabbed a stake at the demon's heart. It was quickly deflected and the stake was knocked out of her hand. Grabbing and throwing her with all its might, the creature sent Buffy hurtling back into the wall once again. Her head hit hard enough to daze her and the vampire was on her instantly, grabbing her hair and yanking her head to the side exposing her neck. Sharp fangs descended eager to pierce the flesh and allow her enemy to drink the precious Slayer blood. Thrusting her arm up, she flat-handed the creature in the mouth as hard as she could, dislodging it enough that she was able to knock it off and away from her. The vampire landed in a heap, its hand going to its bloodied mouth.

"Ow! Fuck, Slayer, I think you broke my fang," came the plaintive wail.

Buffy went over and kneeling down said, "Here, let me look." Pulling back his lips, she carefully examined the damage. "It's not broken, you big baby. Your lip's pretty torn up though."

Spike looked at the blood on his hand and began licking it clean.

"Oh for God's sake, Spike, must you do that? It's disgusting."

"Yeah, well, Watcher, in case you missed the memo, I'm a vampire," came the sardonic reply as Buffy helped Spike to his feet.

That remark earned him a blistering glare. "All right, Buffy, let's critique today's training session, shall we?" Giles asked ignoring Spike completely. Spike merely snickered as he went into the restroom to wash the blood from his face. When he returned, Buffy had pulled on sweats and was preparing to leave.

"Spike, you have to take patrol alone tonight, okay?" she informed him. "I have a study group session, and last time we didn't finish until after midnight."

"All right, luv. Coming to the crypt after?" he asked, pulling her into his arms and nuzzling at the spot he had just recently tried to bite.

Buffy wrapped her arms around him, enjoying the feel of his lips and teeth on her sensitive skin. "Not tonight, honey," she answered somewhat breathlessly. "Early class tomorrow." Pulling back she kissed him gently on the side of his mouth that wasn't bruised and swollen. "Make it up tomorrow night.
Promise."

"Oh you will, my girl, you will," Spike growled giving her a heated look.

Pulling back, she kissed him lightly once more, called goodbye to her Watcher and left by the back door. Sighing, Spike returned to the stock room to finish unpacking the latest shipment of charms and amulets.

When closing time came, Giles completed the bank deposit and prepared to leave. Spike had already left and only Willow and Anya remained in the shop.

"Uh, Willow, were you planning on remaining?" Giles asked.

"If you don't mind, Giles. Tara and I are working on this new spell. We're hoping we can conjure a ball of sunshine. Figure it would be useful if we ever face a large number of vamps." Frowning at the texts surrounding her she continued, "So far though it's been really unstable. We don't want to take a chance on it going out of control when Spike's around." Looking up at the Watcher she added with a twinkle in her eye, "And don't say that that would be fine with you, 'cause you'd be lying."

Her only answer was a "Harrumph!" as Giles headed for the door. "Well, just don't forget to lock up when you leave."

"I'll stay with her, Mr. Giles," Anya offered perkily as Giles closed the shop door.

"You don't need to, Anya," Willow muttered, less than happy at having the shop assistant stay.

"I don't mind. In fact, I've been wanting to ask you for your help with something."

At this Willow looked up curiously. "Oh, what's that?"

Fluttering nervously, Anya sat down across from Willow and explained, "Well, you see, I, uh, had this necklace. Well actually it was my Great-Grandmother's necklace. And it was, uh, stolen from my apartment. And I really want to get it back. So I thought that maybe you could help me perform a spell that would transport it back to me.

"A teleportation spell?" Willow asked eagerly, eyes lighting up.

Anya immediately relaxed. This was going to be easier than she had thought.

"More like a temporal fold; brings it forth from the time and place it was lost. I have the spell and the ingredients--paid for, of course--but I needed someone else to help me perform the spell. You're a much more powerful Wicca than Tara, so naturally I thought of you."

Willow couldn't help but be a little flattered by the compliment and she was always eager to try new and powerful spells. Without a second's hesitation, she agreed.

Going into Buffy's training room, Anya showed Willow how to place the items in preparation for the spellcasting. When they were ready, Anya lit the candles, and clasping hands with Willow and closing her eyes she began chanting, making supplication. Everything seemed to be going well until a pillar of energy appeared over a plate containing a painted image of the lost necklace. Willow snapped open her eyes, startled by the dark energies pouring forth. Strange visions played before her eyes and just as Anya started to pour sacred sand over the dish, Willow started back, a cry escaping from her lips. She had seen an image of The Master and a battle raging between her old school friends and dozens of vampires. Jerking her hand, she inadvertently placed it under the pouring sand seeing even more images including one of herself, or someone who looked just like her, being pushed back by Oz and Larry. As she watched, her doppelganger disappeared.

Breaking contact with Anya, she skittered back away from the circle. Gasping for breath she cried, "What was that? What was I seeing?"

"Look what you've done!" Anya cried in distress. "You've broken the circle and destroyed the spell. We have to do it over again."

"No way, lady. I don't know what kind of spell you were doing there but there's no way I'm helping to do it again." Getting up and brushing the clinging sand from her hands, she rushed from the training room. Anya looked down at the empty dish and in a fit pique, smashed it.

***

In an old abandoned factory on the outskirts of Sunnydale, a Goth-clad Willow appeared from nowhere.
"This is weird," she said.

***

It was several hours after leaving the shop before Giles returned home. Just as he inserted the key into the lock, he heard the telephone ringing. Entering his apartment, he set his groceries down on the sofa table and picked up the receiver.

"Rupert Giles here."

As Giles listened to the voice on the other end of the wire, his face paled visibly. Hanging up, he immediately placed a call. She wasn't there, of course, so after leaving a message on her answering machine, he hung up and went to pour himself a Scotch. His hands shook slightly as he lifted the glass to his lips.

***

Buffy was relieved when the study group broke up early. Returning to her dorm room, she noticed the blinking light on the answering machine. After listening to the message, she hurriedly placed a return call to Giles.

***

Joyce Summers finished her nightly ritual of locking up before heading off to bed. Just as she turned to climb the stairs, a knock sounded at her door. Approaching it, she called out, "Who's there?" The force of the door being kicked open knocked her down. Shocked, she looked up into a frighteningly familiar face.

"Hi, Joyce. Long time no see," Faith smirked.

Chapter 5

Buffy was pacing up and down Giles' living room. "How come it took them twenty-four hours before they let us know she came out of the coma?" she demanded.

"Apparently it took that long for the paperwork to get to the right desk," Giles explained. "You must go out looking for her, Buffy. I can only assume that she will attempt some sort of revenge tactic once she learns that we managed to destroy the Mayor."

Buffy froze, her eyes wide as a horrible thought came to her. "Mom," was all she said. Without another word, she raced from Giles' apartment.

***

Joyce's hands were tied in front of her and she was seated on her bed. Faith was taunting her that Buffy never came by; that she had forgotten all about her now that she was in college. Joyce remained calm.

"You know nothing about Buffy, Faith," she said. "We're closer now than we've ever been, and she's going to kick your ass when she gets here."

"Is that right, Joyce? And when's that going to be, huh?"

In answer to her question, Buffy crashed through the bedroom window, knocking Faith across the room. "Hi, Mom!" she quipped cheerfully.

"Hi, honey. Good timing."

The fight between the two Slayers was furious, ending up with them rolling down the stairs and into the dining room. Buffy stood up facing Faith. "You are so going back into a coma."

"Don't think so, B. I got other plans." Lashing out, she grabbed Buffy by the hand. An energy discharge flashed around them just as the distant sound of sirens reached the house. The two Slayers looked at each other in shock and then Buffy punched Faith as hard as she could, knocking her out.

Joyce came down the stairs and told her daughter, "I've called the police. That must be them now." Searching her daughter with anxious eyes, she asked, "You all right?"

"Yeah, all thing considered," Buffy answered looking down at a strange device in her hand.

"What's that?" Joyce asked.

"Some kind of weapon," Buffy answered. Dropping it to the floor, she smashed it with her foot. "Doesn't matter now. It didn't work."

***

Mother and daughter watched as the disoriented rogue Slayer was cuffed and placed into a squad car. "She'll be taken to jail and held for the murders of Deputy Mayor Finch and Professor Wirth," the police detective was telling them. "You won't have to worry about her bothering you for a long, long time."

As the cruiser pulled away, Joyce turned to Buffy and said, "Honey, I think you should call Giles and tell him what happened. He should know about Faith."

"Yeah. I'll stop by his place on my way back to the dorm. See you later, okay?"

And without another glance back at her mother, Buffy walked off into the night.

***

Willow and Tara were at The Bronze and Willow was telling Tara what had happened with Anya. "It was really creepy, Tara. You never saw The Master, but we're talking scary with a capital scare. And then to see me, or someone who looked like me, all skanky and Goth-looking, it was really bizarre."

"Well, sweetie," Tara scolded gently, "You shouldn't have tried to do a spell you weren't sure you could handle. I keep telling you, you're going too fast, trying too much too quickly."

Willow felt a faint rush of resentment at the chastisement. The fact that it was deserved didn't help matters. Before she could say anything she would later regret she heard Tara exclaim, "Buffy! I thought she was going to be with her study group tonight."

Willow looked to where Tara was pointing and standing up, waved until she got her friend's attention. She thought she saw a faint flash of irritation cross her friend's face, but when Buffy joined them, she seemed normal, if not enthused.

"Hey, Buff."

"Willow." She looked at Tara without a trace of recognition in her face.

"Hi, Buffy," Tara said, looking at her intently. "I thought you were with your study group tonight."

"Yeah, well I decided to go out instead. Look, I'm going to go get something to drink and see if I can't get some of these cuties to dance. See you guys later." With that she casually walked away.

"Now that was strange," Willow exclaimed. "Buffy's going to ask some strange guys to dance?" Turning to Tara with wide eyes she asked, "Do you think she and Spike had a fight or something?"

Tara swallowed nervously and said, "It-it's worst than that, Willow. That wasn't Buffy."

***

Spike carefully tucked his winnings into his jeans pocket. He'd completed a quick sweep of the cemeteries and then come to indulge in the one vice that he still hid from Buffy. Kitten Poker. He was well aware that his Slayer would not approve of this. It wasn't as if he ate the kittens, he mused as he started for the back door to finish patrol. But he did sell his winnings to demons he knew did eat them. Well, he wasn't responsible for what happened to them once they left his custody, and he'd be damned if he was going to feel guilty about it. He was still EVIL, damnit. And besides, just how bad was it? It wasn't as if he was mugging old-age pensioners, or engaging in illegal arms sales, or chatting up birds in a bar somewhere. And that last, he thought with a chuckle, would really get him into trouble. Not one for sharing was his Slayer.

Walking out the back door, his thoughts filled with Buffy, he jumped when he almost ran directly into her.

"Buffy? What are you doin' here, sweetheart? I though you had to study tonight."

Faith looked at the gorgeous Englishman standing in front of her and a rush of lust swept through her body.

"Something came up," she answered the platinum-blond hottie. Looking him up and down, she added, "So what happened to your mouth? Did someone clock you in there?"

"Uh, you did this to me today while we were sparring, remember?" Spike looked at her and cocked his head a little to the side. Something about her bothered him. Her body language was different, her vocal cadence off. "You all right, luv?" he asked in concern. "You don't seem yourself."

Faith's eyes narrowed slightly, but she answered casually, "Yep, everything's five-by-five. So, what's up with you? Why're you here?"

Spike tried not to look guilty. "Oh, you know. Patrollin' through Willy's, making sure the monsters are behavin' themselves." In an effort to change the subject, he moved closer to Buffy and said in his deepest, sexiest voice, "So, Slayer, you want to come home with me tonight after all?"

Faith smiled a predatory smile, licked her lips and coming close to him said, "Yeah, I think that can be arranged." Pressing her body into his and claiming his mouth with a demanding kiss, she became instantly aware of two things--Buffy's latest lover was another vampire, and he was hotter than a two-dollar pistol.

Spike pulled Buffy close to him, his mouth opening under her lips, tongue entwining with hers. And three seconds later he pulled back and pushed her away, eyes narrowing as he examined her. "Somethin's not right here," he growled. "What's wrong with you, Slayer? You feel different."

"Nothing's wrong, baby," Faith insisted. It'd been too long since she'd had a man, being in a coma and all, and this man...well vampire...was not only hotter than hell, he belonged to Buffy, so bonus. Pressing her body into his again, she wrapped one strong hand around the back of his neck and pulled him into another kiss.

Spike hardened when the scent of her arousal reached him. Growling deeply in his chest, he pulled her up tight against him, grabbing her ass and pushing his erection against her belly. She opened an eager mouth to him, twirling her tongue around his and sucking it into her mouth, all the while grinding herself up against him, grabbing, groping, pulling, hurting. Spike felt a haze of passion envelope him, but also a sense of unease. He'd made love to Buffy too many times in too many ways and in too many places to not notice that she was responding differently, more wantonly, all need and no love. Even at the beginning when they'd been burning uncontrollably for each other she'd never acted like this. Her responses bothered him and he couldn't figure out why.

Pushing her back again, he gasped out, "Buffy, what's going on? There's something wrong with you. I can feel it."

"There's nothing wrong I tell you!" she insisted. Slamming him back against the door she forced herself on him again, almost wild and out of control.

Spike felt a sense of panic begin deep inside. Pushing her back once again, he snarled, "Buffy, knock it off. I don't know what's up with you tonight, but I'm damn well going to find out."

"Yeah? You think so? It's really too bad you noticed a difference. I think we could have had a good time tonight." With that, she pulled a stake out of her waistband and lunged at Spike.

Two things saved Spike from an instant dusting. He was an elder vampire in his prime who happened to train almost every day with one of the most formidable fighters he had ever come up against, so his reflexes were blazingly fast. The second thing was that Faith was unused to Buffy's body and her coordination was slightly off. As it was, she did manage to stab Spike in the chest just to the right of his heart.

Crying out in pain, Spike managed to kick her legs out from under her and toss her across the alley. Sprinting as fast as he could with the wound, he escaped from her. A sewer entrance was close by and he made for it. Ducking in, he ran a zigzag path, taking tunnels he knew like the back of his hand. After he had run several miles, he realized that the false Buffy was no longer pursuing him. Collapsing to the floor, he drew in great gulps of air in an attempt to control the pain that was radiating through him. He was badly wounded and had bled profusely which seriously weakened him.

When he finally had the pain somewhat under control, he pushed himself upright and made his way slowly down the tunnel in the direction that would take him to Rupert Giles. The Watcher would know what to do.

Chapter 6

Giles had been waiting impatiently to hear from Buffy and had just decided to call Joyce when an urgent knocking sounded at his door. Rushing over he opened the door to find two very distraught young ladies standing there.

"Willow, Tara, what's wrong?" he asked anxiously.

"Giles, it's Buffy or, or not Buffy, I'm not sure. Tara, you tell him." Willow babbled.

Tara fidgeted nervously, hating to be the center of attention, but said, "Mr. Giles, we saw Buffy at The Bronze, only we don't think it was Buffy. I mean, her aura was all off; it wasn't Buffy's aura, but it looked like Buffy and sounded like Buffy. But we're pretty sure it wasn't Buffy."

Giles looked at the two girls in confusion, gestured them in and said, "All right, please calm down and tell me everything."

"Well, we were at The Bronze and Tara spotted Buffy and so I waved her over, you know? And she seemed okay except she was kinda stand-offish and then she said she was going to get a drink and ask some guys to dance."

"Ask some guys to dance?" Giles asked astonished.

"See? That's crazy, right? Buffy hasn't even looked at another guy since Spike, so I thought they had a fight or something but Tara said that it wasn't Buffy."

Stopping just long enough to catch her breath, Willow continued. "So we watched her for a while and she danced and flirted with a whole buncha guys and then she just left. We tried to follow, but, you know, Slayer speed, she lost us, so we decided to come here and tell you all about it."

"Well, I don't know what to say," Giles admitted. "When she was here a few hours ago, she was herself."
"Here?" Willow asked. "Why was she here, Giles?"

Giving the young witch a concerned look, Giles said hesitantly, "I received some disturbing news this evening, Willow. Faith has regained consciousness and escaped from the hospital. Buffy went in search of her."

"Oh, no!" Willow wailed, sinking down into a chair. "Do you think Faith did something to Buffy then?"

"I don't see how she could have, Willow. She's been out of hospital just a little over twenty-four hours and the Mayor is gone so she's lost her connection to the demonic underworld. Perhaps when you saw Buffy she was searching for Faith and just didn't want to worry you."

"Oh come on, Giles, you know Buffy better than that," Willow insisted. "Do you really think she wouldn't tell us that a crazy psychopath like Faith was on the loose? And what about the flirting with all those guys?" Willow hesitated and then said in a tremulous voice, "You know, Giles, that was more like Faith behavior than Buffy behavior."

Giles ran his hand through his hair in agitation. "Tara, is it possible that the Buffy you saw was actually a Glamour?"

Tara considered carefully before answering. "It's possible, I suppose. But I didn't feel any magic field around her, and I think there would have been with a Glamour."

Walking to the telephone, he picked up the receiver and said, "I'll call Joyce. Buffy feared that Faith would attack her mother in retribution for the Mayor's death. Perhaps she can tell us if Buffy was acting normally when she saw her."

Before he could dial more than two numbers, his door flew open and an exhausted, dirty and badly wounded vampire stumbled in.

"Spike!" Willow exclaimed, hurrying over to help him to a chair. "What happened?"

Spike turned anguished, pain-filled eyes to the Watcher and said, "Giles, somethin's happened to Buffy. Somethin' bad. I think she's been possessed." Swallowing he concluded, "She did this to me."

***

Willow was carefully cleaning Spike's wound while Tara handed him a mug of heated blood. Luckily for the vampire, part of the groceries Giles had picked up before coming home had been blood to take to the shop with him in the morning.

"And so, I was comin' out of Willy's and there she was. I was right surprised to see her seein' as how she said she had to study tonight," Spike was telling the group. Giles was sitting, elbows on knees, head down, glasses dangling from his fingertips as he listened to the tale. When Spike got to the part where Buffy staked him, Willow put her arm around his shoulder and Tara gently patted his back in comfort.

"I didn't want to hurt her. Whatever's happened to her," he continued, "that's still Buffy. Her body at least. Her smell and her taste were right."

Giles was unable to control a small grimace of distaste at these words, but sighing he looked up at Tara and said, "So it appears you were right, Tara. Whatever has happened, it is not a Glamour.

Nodding, the young witch agreed, "It was her aura that was off, not anything else I could detect. Except..."

"Except?" Giles prompted.

"Well, she didn't move right. Almost as if she wasn't comfortable in her body."

Spike's head snapped up at Tara's remark. "Yeah, you're right, pet. Giles, you know Buffy. D'you think there is any way our Slayer could have missed her mark as close as she was to me? I should be dust blowin' down that alley, not here talkin' to you."

Nodding, Giles stood and once again headed to the telephone. "I think it's time I completed that call to Joyce. Although if she was aware of anything wrong, I'm sure she would have called me by now."

As he once again started to dial, Willow picked up the soiled towels she had used to clean up Spike's wound and took them into the bathroom while Tara went into the kitchen to fetch Spike more blood. It was while they were out of the room that the next round of shocks began.

Chapter 7

Once again Giles' door flew open, this time revealing a distraught Xander. It was evident that he had been crying and his voice hitched in a sob as he wailed, "Oh God, Giles, she's dead!"

Giles looked at the boy in shock and fear. "Who? Who's dead, Xander!"

Spike had stood up again when Xander burst into the room, his own face mirroring his fear. Xander noticed the vampire for the first time and rushing to him began choking him. "You! It's your fault. You and your filthy kind."

Before Spike could push his attacker away, Giles was there pulling him off. "Xander! Xander, control yourself. What's happened?"

Xander lowered his head into his hands and sobbed, "It's Willow, Giles. I saw her. She's a vampire."

"What?!"

The sound of three shocked, confused voices sounded at the same time. Looking up he saw Tara standing by the kitchen. Wiping his face, he started towards the young witch. "I'm so sorry, Tara. But I saw Willow downtown and she's...she's..."

Before he could complete his sentence he heard, "I'm what, Xander?"

Xander's eyes almost bugged out of his head seeing his best friend before him so unexpectedly. Spotting a crossbow lying on top of the weapon's chest, he lunged for it and turning it on Willow cried, "You damned creature! You're not gonna hurt anyone here!"

Even with his injury, Spike was preternaturally fast. Speeding forward he managed to deflect Xander's aim causing the bolt to hit the wall a couple feet above Willow's head. Wrenching the crossbow out of Xander's hands he sent the young man flying across the room to land in a heap by the window.

"What the fuck's wrong with you, Harris?" the vampire shouted. "Have you gone completely 'round the bend? That's Willow there."

Xander turned hate-filled eyes on Spike and spat out, "Is she yours? Did you sire her, Spike? Is that why you're protecting her?"

Willow and Tara were clinging together shocked and frightened. Giles came and stood between the two men, trying to inject some semblance of sanity into the room.

"Xander, I assure you, Willow is Willow. She's not been turned by Spike or any other vampire. Why on Earth do you think that she's a vampire?"

The tiniest bit of doubt began to show on Xander's face. Standing up and looking intently at Willow he said, "I saw her downtown, Giles. Only," he began to look confused, "she was dressed differently."

"Dressed how?" Giles probed.

"Uh, she had on this tight black leather outfit, real sexy. I thought maybe it was some new lesbi...uh, I mean, witch outfit."

"Tight black leather outfit?" Willow asked in a squeaky voice. "Uh, kinda Gothy looking?"

Xander nodded vigorously,

"Uh oh," Willow said.

"Uh oh?" Giles asked.

Swallowing nervously, Willow turned to Tara and said, "Just like in my vision."

"Vision? What vision are you talking about, Willow?"

"Oh, uh, well, you see, Giles, after you left the shop tonight Anya asked me to help her do a spell to retrieve a necklace she lost. While we were doing it I began to have these, well, visions, I guess you'd call them. Of The Master, and Oz and Larry and uh, me in that outfit Xander described."

As everyone watched the young witch intently, she explained exactly what she saw in her vision.

"So you say you saw this other you and then she just vanished?" Giles asked. He was beginning to look as if he had nearly reached his breaking point. First Faith awakening and escaping custody, and then Buffy perhaps possessed, and now a vampire Willow running around town? Too many things too quickly, he thought.

Willow nodded. "What do you think it means, Giles? Did Anya and I somehow conjure that skanky Willow?"

"I don't know, Willow, but we'll have to wait and deal with this after we've found out exactly what's happened to Buffy. That must be our priority right now."

"Hear, hear, Watcher," Spike cheered approvingly.

At Giles' look, Spike exclaimed, "What? I watch Parliament on C-Span."

"Wait a minute," Xander interrupted. "What about Buffy? Something's happened to Buffy too? Or I guess not too because Willow, not a vampire, so there's no too to be too...uh, to," he trailed off.

Sighing Giles said, "You explain it to him, Willow. I am going to try, once again, to call Joyce." Staring apprehensively at the telephone, he starting walking towards it as Willow began to explain.

Spike sighed and sank back down into his chair, closing his eyes in exhaustion and leaning his head back. He was frightened and worried about Buffy. He didn't know this Faith they all kept talking about, although Buffy had told him enough about her for him to know that she was bad news. He swore to himself that, chip or no chip, if that bitch had harmed Buffy in any way, he'd kill her.

He felt a presence and looked up to see a contrite Xander standing before him holding out a mug of blood. "Here," the young man said awkwardly. "Tara warmed up some more blood for you."

"Ta, mate," Spike said, reaching up and taking the mug. As he sipped, he watched as Xander twitched uncomfortably before him. Finally Xander said in a rush, "Look, I'm sorry I attacked you like that. Kinda out of my mind because of what I thought happened to Willow."

Spike shrugged. "Don't worry about it," he said disinterestedly. "Just one piece of advice though. The next time you attack a vampire try to remember that choking doesn't hurt us. We don't breathe."

Xander blushed, dipped his head and moved away. Spike smirked at him, but was torn between being hurt that Xander had even considered that he would have harmed Willow and touched that he had bothered to apologize.

Giles had been talking for some minutes to Joyce when Spike heard him say, "So she just walked away? And she seemed all right?" A pause. "Well, we believe that something's happened to her. No, we don't know what exactly, but I think it best if you pack an overnight bag and come stay here tonight." A pause. "No," Giles said exasperatedly, "this has nothing to do with band candy. I just think it best if you don't stay at home alone tonight. I'd send Spike over to stay with you but we need him to help search for Buffy, plus he's been injured. No, he'll be all right. What? What device? A weapon?" A pause. "Very well, bring that too; it may be important. I'm sending Xander over to pick you up. We'll see you shortly then."

Hanging up, Giles faced the others. "Faith showed up and tied Joyce up. Buffy arrived, they fought, Buffy knocked Faith out, Joyce called the police and Faith was taken into custody. I'm going to the police station to see if I can see Faith and get information from her as to what she did to Buffy. Xander, I want you to go get Joyce and bring her here. Willow and Tara, I want you to check in Skolcraft's Compendium and find a healing spell for Spike. We cannot afford to have him at less than one hundred percent."

With that the Watcher grabbed up his car keys and left the apartment. Xander followed after and Willow went to the bookcase to find the text to search for a spell to speed up Spike's recovery. Spike was less than happy with the idea of being on the receiving end of one of Willow's spells. He'd seen enough of her attempts go arse-up that he was leery of the whole idea, but if it helped him heal quicker, he'd let her have at. Nothing was more important than his ability to help Buffy.

Chapter 8

She awoke to the feeling of motion. Shifting slightly, she heard a metallic rattling and opening bleary eyes she looked around what appeared to be the inside of a large van of some kind. Sitting up, she realized that her wrists were shackled to the walls by thick chains. "Oh no," she moaned, "Not chains again. Where's Spike when you need him?"

At least this time she had enough play in the chains that she could move around a bit. As her head cleared, she realized that the van was slowing down, then stopping. She could faintly hear the voices of men and then the van started backing up, the irritating clang of the backup warning signal ringing loudly. The vehicle once again stopped and the engine was shut off. She could hear the men coming around to the back and decided that playing possum was probably her best strategy, at least until she knew for sure whom she was dealing with.

"Check on the bint while I call in." She wasn't sure, but she thought she recognized the English-accented voice. The back door of the van was opened and Buffy lay perfectly still regulating her breathing so that it appeared she was unconscious. "Still out," another Englishman said. "She should be out for a couple more hours yet, the dose we gave her."

"Yeah, well she's a Slayer," the first voice said. "Don't trust that'll hold true."

The door was closed again and Buffy relaxed. She had an idea now who had her. Last year the Watcher's Council had attempted to take Faith back to England for counseling after she had accidentally killed the Deputy Mayor. But instead of helping Faith, they had only made matters worse with the end result that Faith turned rogue and eventually ended up in a coma in the hospital thanks to Buffy.

Now it seemed the Council was back at it, once again trying to expatriate Faith to England. Well this was just great, Buffy thought. She wasn't sure how she was going to convince these guys that they had the wrong Slayer, but she knew that she had to get back home as quickly as possible. She didn't know exactly what Faith had done to her, but the fact was Faith was now in Buffy's body and the harm she could do terrified Buffy.

The men were coming close to the van again and Buffy heard, "All right, lads. We have the go ahead. Let's get this over with as soon as possible so we can pack her up and ship her off. I want her dead before she has a chance to wake up."

Buffy's heart started pounding in her chest. Dead? They were just going to kill her? Not her, she thought, Faith. They were going to execute Faith. Buffy didn't think that any amount of talking was going to save her. She wouldn't believe her, so why would they?

Lying perfectly still, she waited while the door was once more opened. This time she felt the rocking of the van as someone carefully entered. All senses alert she waited until she felt the hand on her arm and then using all her Slayer strength and speed she sat up and in one rapid movement wrapped her legs around the man's torso holding him restrained while she simultaneously wrapped a part of the chain around his neck. Shocked eyes looked in at her and her captive.

"Unless you want to be minus one buddy," she ground out, "I suggest you throw me the keys to these chains."

The man in the doorway narrowed his eyes looking from her to her prisoner. "You kill him, we still kill you," he said coldly. "You'll gain nothing. Let him go."

"No," Buffy said. "I know you won't believe me, but I'm not Faith, I'm Buffy Summers. She did something, switched our bodies somehow. Let me go and I'll help you capture her. After she's switched us back."

The man laughed at her. "I'll give you this," he sneered, "You've got a rich imagination." With eyes gone flat and cold, he repeated, "Let Smith go. You let him go, we kill you easy. You kill him, you'll die slow and painfully."

"I'm not letting him go, and I'm not letting you kill me," she hissed.

"We'll see about that, bitch," the man said as he closed the door.

"Collins!" the man cried out, but there was no answer from outside the van.

"Looks like you friend doesn't care too much about you," Buffy said coldly.

"Let me go," Smith said in a shaking voice. "You don't want to mess with Collins. He will make you pay, believe me."

"Yeah, yeah," Buffy said. "I heard him. I don't suppose you have a set of keys on you, do you?" she asked. When Smith shook his head she shrugged and said, "Hope you don't mind if I check it out for myself. Oh, and I think it'll be easier if you aren't awake to fight me." With that she unwrapped the chain from around his neck, moved her arm in its place and then squeezed. He fought against the pressure, but soon slumped forward unconscious.

Buffy checked through his pockets coming up with a syringe. Shuddering, she slammed the needle into the floor of the van, breaking it and then tossed the syringe away, careful to not get any of the liquid on her. True to his word, there were no keys on his person. Shoving him aside, she carefully looked over the chains, trying to find a weakness. She suspected they were magically enhanced, just as the Gr'Racka's had been, which meant that she couldn't break the chains. But maybe... Getting up on her knees, she twisted around and looked at where the chains were attached to the van walls. Wrapping the chains around her hands, she began pulling with all her strength.

If she had been in her own body, Buffy was pretty sure she would have had no problem pulling the chains from the wall. Stupid men. What good were magically enhanced chains if you just hooked them up to regular steel? Breathing heavily, Buffy rested a moment before pulling again. Faith's body was weakened from her long coma, but even a weakened Slayer was someone to be reckoned with and mere steel didn't stand a chance. Little by little the steel hook pulled free until at last it popped from the wall of the van causing Buffy to fall over. With her arms free, she started pulling on the hooks that held the chains attached to her legs. She quickly had them free as well. Gathering the chains up in her arms she quietly moved up to the end of the van and looked out the narrow window in the door. Two men, Collins and someone Buffy didn't recognize, were seated at a table loading a rifle.

"Shit!" Buffy hissed. Looking back over her shoulder, she quickly made up her mind. Scurrying back to Smith as silently as possible, she grabbed him and dragging him forward she placed his body in front of hers. Reaching for the door handle, she threw it open and then jumped out using Smith as a shield. Collins sprang to his feet aiming the rifle and firing only to have his aim knocked aside by his companion. "Don't shoot Smith, you son of a bitch!" the other man exclaimed.

With a curse, Collins swung the rifle back towards Buffy, but it was too late. Throwing Smith aside, she sped forward swinging the chains in an arc. The links wrapped around the rifle jerking it out of Collins' hands and she spun around using the chains on her legs to knock the two men down. Leaping forward she quickly knocked both men out in a flurry of rapid-fire punches.

Sitting back on her heels, she again caught her breath and then searched Collins for the keys to the chains. Finding them, she unlocked the manacles. Heaving a sigh of relief, she dragged the two unconscious men over to where Smith lay. One by one she loaded them into the van and chained them together in the back. Jumping down from the back of the van, she shut the door and locked it. They'd be okay for the time being. Once she was back home, she'd have Giles call the Council to let them know where their bullyboys were. Right now though, she needed to find out where she was exactly. She looked over at the phone that sat on the table, but decided against calling Giles. There was no way he would believe her. She had to get home and hopefully find someway to convince him that she wasn't really Faith.

Chapter 9

The two girls were chanting, incense burned, and Spike was surrounded by a warm blue glow when Joyce and Xander walked into the apartment. Joyce's eyes opened wide at the sight. Although she was aware of Willow's powers, this was the first time she had ever seen her in action. Spike's head was thrown back and he was breathing in short, shallow gasps. After a few more minutes, the two witches stopped chanting, the glow faded and Spike slowly sat back up, eyes blinking rapidly.

"Well," the vampire panted, "That wasn't too bad. Thanks, ladies."

Willow and Tara grinned at him and then Tara leaned forward pulling back the bandage on his chest. The wound was almost completely healed. Spike stared at it in amazement. He really hadn't believed it would work, but, by damn, they really had done it. A couple more mugs of blood, and there would be no sign that he had been staked this night.

"Spike, what happened?" Joyce asked.

Spike looked down, then at the girls, then down again. How could he tell Joyce that Buffy had tried to dust him? How could he tell Joyce that Buffy was possessed? Taking a deep breath, he began to fill Joyce in on the night's strange happenings.

***

Giles' face was a mask of cold fury as he left the police station. He had spoken with Detective Clark and had learned about Faith's abduction by masked men driving a large van. He had a suspicion who had taken her, and as he jumped into his car, he had to forcibly restrain himself from speeding off in a cloud of burnt rubber.

Reaching his home far quicker than the law would have approved, he threw open the door and marched directly to the phone. All conversation stopped as everyone stared at the furious look on his face. Punching a string of numbers into the phone's keypad, he ground out, "There was an accident on the way to the police station. According to witnesses, the cruiser hit a lorry, three masked men jumped out, knocked out the police officers, and dragged Faith out of the back of the police car taking her with them."

"What!" Spike yelled jumping up. "You telling me she had help escaping? We need to find her, Giles. We need to find her now!"

Giles gave Spike a cold look and said, "I'm well aware of that, Spike. Hello? This is Rupert Giles. I need to speak to Quentin Travers. I don't care if he's in a meeting. This is of the utmost importance. It concerns Buffy Summers."

"Quentin Travers?" Willow exclaimed. "Isn't he the head of the Watcher's Council? The one who hates you and Buffy?"

Giles ignored her as he spoke once more into the phone. "Quentin, what the hell are you doing now? Did you send your goon squad to Sunnydale to kidnap Faith?"

Giles listened with growing impatience. "Do not try to fob me off, Quentin. This stinks of the Wetworks Squad. Did you have her kidnapped?"

Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth he ground out, "I'll tell you why I'm concerned about it, you daft old bugger! She's done something to Buffy, caused a demon to possess her or something of the sort. We need to talk to Faith to find out exactly what she's done. Now where the fuck is she?"

Willow and Tara gasped slightly at hearing Giles use such profanity. Spike only became more agitated. If the Watcher was resorting to foul language, things were really in a cock-up.

As they watched, Giles suddenly deflated, his face turning a frightening gray. "Dear God, Quentin. How could you order that? Call them back immediately and call if off. Yes, yes. I'll be right here." Hanging up, he looked at the anxious faces with shell-shocked eyes. "Quentin ordered Faith terminated."

"Terminated?" Spike growled, "You mean killed? That bastard ordered his own Slayer killed?"

Running his hands through his hair, Giles sighed, "She's rogue, Spike. It's...it's not unknown for the Council to terminate an unsatisfactory Slayer in order for a new one to be called."

Spike just stared at Giles and then said coldly, "And you people call me evil."

***

Buffy walked down the street totally lost; she had no idea where she was. When she had left the garage where the van was parked, she found herself in a warehouse district far from any houses or stores. There didn't even seem to be newspaper vending machines around so that she could find out what city she was in. She had to rest often, her body nearing the end of its resources, but she didn't want to sleep until she felt safer than she did now. At long last the area began to change. Warehouses and old abandoned factories gave way to closed-up shops and boarded up buildings. A few more blocks and signs of life finally came into view. It was a flyer tacked up on a telephone pole that told her where she was. It also told her where she was going to go.

***

The redheaded vampire ran her thumb along the corner of her mouth catching the blood that pooled there. Sticking out her tongue, she carefully lapped at the few droplets, licking the thumb clean.

She was confused; nothing was right here. Too many humans, not enough vampires. Not that she was really complaining about the too many humans part. She hadn't eaten this well in months. Rubbing her belly, she stepped over the bodies of the two teenagers she had just drained. Stupid girls. Even if The Master hadn't taken over this Sunnydale yet, there were still vampires. You'd think the people here would be smart enough to stay in after dark.

Shrugging, Willow continued her explorations. This was definitely Sunnydale. She had gone past a now destroyed Sunnydale High where she had been a student before The Master had turned her. Her and Xander. Xander. She had seen him tonight, but he was human again. That wasn't good. She wanted her Xander back; they had so much fun together. He'd run off after he'd realized she was a vampire and Willow, who'd been busy feeding, hadn't bothered chasing him. She'd find him eventually.

She entered The Bronze, but as with everything else, it wasn't the same. It was filled with human boys and girls dancing, laughing and partying. A couple vampires were in the crowd but Willow ignored them. They were weak; she could tell that right away. Definitely not made by The Master. The vampires in The Master's line were strong. Especially the puppy. Willow smiled coldly at the thought of the puppy. He was so much fun to play with. She hoped he was still around. She loved to hear him scream.

***

Faith took the keycard from the registration clerk. "Your room is 615," the girl told her. Nodding her head in acknowledgement, Faith sauntered over to the bank of elevators to the right of the lobby. A long hot shower and then bed. She was grateful to The Mayor for providing her with funds and a passport. He had really cared for her; something on one else had ever done, especially not Buffy or her precious Watcher. And they had killed the closest thing Faith had ever had to a father. Payback was really going to be a bitch.

***

Willow, Tara and Giles were examining the pieces of the apparatus that Joyce had brought with her, discussing it quietly between them. Joyce sat looking frightened and confused and Xander watched as the vampire paced back and forth and back and forth, growls intermittently rumbling from his chest. \

When the phone rang, everyone jumped and stared at the instrument as if it had turned into a demon.

Taking in a deep steadying breath, Giles reached for the receiver placing it to his ear. "Giles here," he said softly. Silence as he listened. "Where did they call you from? Do you have anyone nearby who can check? Good. And, Quentin, you'd better hope that they haven't disposed of Faith yet. Yes, that was a threat." Replacing the receiver he looked up and said, "Quentin called the team but there was no answer. He's sending someone from the LA office to check."

Willow looked at Giles. "There's an LA office of the Watcher's Council? How come we never knew about it?"

Giles looked uncomfortable, "Because it wasn't necessary that you know, Willow." Sighing he continued, "The Watcher's Council has people in place in every major city of the world. Sometimes it's a whole office, sometimes just one person."

Spike started heading for the front door. "Spike! Where do you think you're going?" Giles snapped.

"I'm going to LA, Watcher. That bitch is there and I'm bringing her back."

"And just where exactly in LA are you going to find her? Quentin didn't tell me where the Wetworks Squad had her, so I couldn't tell you where she is even if I wanted to."

Spike looked at him in frustration. "Maybe I should go out lookin' for Buffy then. Bring her here so that we can fix whatever's wrong with her."

Giles shook his head. "And I think it best that we wait until we know for sure exactly what's wrong with her. You said you don't want to hurt her, but she certainly won't come willingly with you, so you'd have no choice but hurt her. That is if she didn't just dust you first."

Spike growled again and then flung himself down into his chair. "I hate this just sittin' around waitin' and doin' nothing."

"Yes, well I'm not happy myself, but going off half-cocked is not the answer, Spike." Turning away from the vampire, he returned to the two witches and their examination of the mysterious smashed device.

***

Buffy stepped out of the cab and paid the driver. She had felt a little bit guilty stealing the money from Collins, but not too guilty. Entering the building, she looked for the office number printed on the flyer. Finding it, she took a deep breath and then entered.

***

The vampire started drifting back to the old factory. She had grown bored walking around Sunnydale, her belly was full, she couldn't find The Master or any others of her family, and Xander was nowhere to be seen. She'd look for him again tomorrow night. Things would be better once she had Xander with her again.

***

Faith stretched comfortably on the bed enjoying the feel of the crisp linen sheets against her naked body. Sighing deeply, she snuggled up to the spare pillow and drifted off to sleep. Morning was soon enough to start killing off Scoobies.

Chapter 10

Cordelia Chase looked up with a smile as the office door opened. The smile didn't last long. Jumping up, she hurriedly backed up yelping, "Faith! What...what are you doing here? I thought you were in a coma."

"Cordy," Buffy said, holding out her hand in supplication. "I'm not Faith. Please, where's Angel? I need his help." Buffy was so intent on trying to reassure Cordelia that she didn't even hear the door open behind her. The blinding pain that flashed through her as something solid met the back of her skull was the last thing she knew before darkness engulfed her.

***

It was quiet in Giles' apartment when the telephone once again startled everyone into wakefulness. Joyce had fallen asleep on the couch and Xander had been snoring peacefully in one of the armchairs. The two witches had been studying a text intently. They finally had a notion as to what the device was and were looking for verification. Giles had been making another pot of tea and Spike had just been standing in the doorway smoking yet another cigarette.

As Giles hurried to answer the insistently ringing telephone, everyone waited tensely. "Giles," he snapped. He listened for what seemed an interminable length of time before he said, "Well thank God for that anyway." Everyone immediately relaxed. It appeared that Faith wasn't dead. "And you've no idea where she could have gotten to? There was no sign of her in the area? Yes, yes, I know Los Angeles is a large city, Quentin. Very well, keep me informed. Oh, and Quentin, please be sure that your agents know that she isn't to be harmed." It wasn't a request.

Looking at the anxiously awaiting faces, he shook his head as he told them, "She got away from the bloody idiots. Chained them up with their own chains, stole their money and disappeared. She could be anywhere by now."

Willow and Tara exchanged a look and Willow said, "Uh, Giles. Maybe we can find her."

"How, Willow? Quentin has his entire team looking for her, but to be honest, chances are they won't find her. She could be in Mexico by now."

"Well, maybe we could do a location spell. All we need is something of hers. Maybe we can get something from the hospital that she left behind."

Giles looked at the two girls and for the first time in hours smiled. "Yes, excellent idea, Willow." Turning to the two men in the room he said, "Spike, Xander. Go see what you can get." He didn't need to speak twice.

***

Throbbing pain lanced through her head as she slowly regained consciousness. When she found out who had hit her, she was going to tear them a new one she promised herself. Moving slightly, she felt the chains on her wrists. God, not again!

Slowly opening her eyes and blinking rapidly to clear her vision, she saw first Cordelia, then Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. Struggling, she managed to push herself back along the wall to which she was chained until she was sitting upright.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Look guys, I know I look like Faith, but please believe me, I'm Buffy, not Faith."

"Oh!" Cordelia exclaimed. "Of course. I knew that. Just because you look and sound exactly like that ho Faith and nothing at all like Buffy is no reason for us to not believe that you're not Faith."

"Cordelia, please, let me handle this," Wesley said pompously. "You look like Faith. Why should we believe you are Buffy?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "That's just what I said, Wesley."

Buffy closed her eyes in frustration. "Look, where's Angel? Let me talk to Angel, okay? He'll be able to figure out that I'm really Buffy."

"Angel in out on a case right now, so I'm afraid you'll have to deal with me," Wesley said, drawing himself up to his full height.

Buffy rested her head against the wall, shoulders slumping in defeat. "Great," she muttered. "I'm doomed. I just know it."

***

Xander and Spike got out of the car and hurried into the hospital. Going to the floor where Faith had been cared for, Spike told Xander, "Look, just let me do the talking, all right? I can get what we need out of these nurse birds easier that you can."

"What, you think I can't charm a few nurses?" Xander protested. Off Spike's look he ducked his head and mumbled, "It's that damned British accent, that's all." Spike snickered, "Yeah. That and the fact that I'm ten times better looking than you."

"Jeez, Spike. Conceited much?"

Spike just smirked at him and then sauntered up to the nurse's station turning on all his Big Bad charm. Xander watched in awe as the middle-aged nurse in charge turned into a prepubescent girl right before his eyes. Fifteen minutes later, they left the hospital with Faith's personal belongings.

***

Cordelia and Wesley were off in a corner of the room whispering together. Buffy had refused to say anything more after telling them she would talk only to Angel. She hoped that the Watcher's Council murder squad didn't track her here. She had no faith at all that Wesley would protect her. He'd probably be glad to turn her over to them and wash his hands of her. Stupid Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.

***

Tara and Willow had prepared as much as they could for the location spell. They waited only for Xander and Spike to return from the hospital and Giles to return from the Magic Box with a few additional ingredients. The items from the Magic Box were not only for the location spell, but also for a ritual that they had discovered in the text. Tara was certain that it would reveal exactly what had happened to Buffy.

***

Buffy was studiously ignoring Wesley. He had attempted several times to get her to speak to him, but she had refused to acknowledge his presence. Cordelia had returned to the office above to wait for Angel. It had been over an hour and Buffy was hungry, thirsty, her head ached and she had to pee. If Angel didn't show up soon, she was going to rip the damned chains out of the wall, thump Wesley with them and go to the bathroom. The sound of the elevator moving brought both of them to attention. As it slowly descended, Buffy felt her heart start to pound. She hoped it was Cordelia and Angel. The doors finally opened and Buffy looked up into the dark eyes of her former lover. She felt like weeping in relief.

"Faith," Angel said coldly.

"Buffy," Buffy answered.

"So Cordelia tells me. Want to tell me how Buffy came to look just like Faith?"

Taking a deep breath, Buffy said, "I really need to go to the bathroom."

***

The map of Los Angeles County was spread out before the two girls as they cast the location spell. It wasn't working. The pendulum they'd made by tying Faith's ring to a long cord swung erratically over the map, seeming to settle over one area but then skittering off to the edge of the map in the direction of Sunnydale. After ten minutes of concentration, the girls conceded defeat.

"Perhaps it didn't work because you're too tired," Giles said, exhaustion evident in his own voice. "I think it might be best if we all take a break and get some sleep. Try again in a few hours."

Protests abounded, but Giles was adamant. And so the three women went upstairs to sleep in Giles' bed while he bunked down on the couch, Xander draped himself over an armchair and Spike curled up on the floor. Spike didn't think he would be able to relax, worried as he was over Buffy, but he was asleep two minutes after lying down. The room settled into the soft sound of snores.

***

Buffy finished telling her story to Angel, Cordelia and Wesley. Stony looks of disbelief gave way to exclamations of shock when she got to the part where the men had tried to kill her, and then back to stony looks of disbelief again. And so she brought out the big guns. Every single secret that Buffy knew about the three with her was revealed. By the time she got to the night she and Angel had made love, everyone believed.

"So what do we do, Angel?" Cordelia asked. "I agree with Buffy. There's no way Giles is going to believe this over the phone."

"Then we go to Sunnydale," Angel answered.