"I just wanted to talk to all of you about Spike" she said to them. "I know that most of you, maybe all of you don't trust him, but that doesn't really matter because I trust him. Spike is part of my team and he is my responsibility. I want you to know that I take my responsibilities very seriously. If you or any of your men should have a little accident during the fighting tonight and accidentally kill Spike by mistake, I want you to know that I will personally rip your arms off and beat you to death with them. Am I being very clear about that? I suggest that you inform your men so that there won't be any mistakes." Buffy stood there until each of the men nodded their acknowledgment of what she had said to them. "Sweet dreams" she said as she turned around and went back to the vault to get some rest.
Buffy didn't see Spike standing in the dark shadows as she walked past him. But Spike had heard every word she had said to the men and had a very thoughtful look on his face that turned into a very big grin.
*********
(Friday night)
By the time the sun was setting everyone was up and moving around. Tara prepared food for all of the Scoobies, Spike had a cup of warmed blood, and the Counsel 'action teams' ate their high energy ration bars. Buffy, Giles, Mensey and the other team leaders went over the route that would be taken by each of the teams to reach their point of attack in the warehouse district. Buffy's team had the most dangerous route, they had to move through over a mile of sewer lines to reach the warehouse and had to do it without being discovered. They also had to make plans for attacking the second warehouse immediately if it turned out they had guessed wrong and the first warehouse was empty.
With the planning worked out as best as could be done everyone turned to preparing their weapons. Buffy made sure that everyone on her team had at least two wooden stakes with them, the one sure way of killing a vampire. Besides the two regular stakes she was also carrying two heavy stakes that were balanced for throwing, a short sword and a crossbow and six arrows. Spike had his stakes, a long sword and a crossbow. Giles had stakes, a hand ax and crossbow. Xander had stakes, a heavy ax, a crossbow and a cross (just in case). Willow and Tara didn't want to carry weapons, they were going to be using magic and needed their hands free, but Buffy insisted that they carry the wooden stakes anyway.
The Counsels 'action teams' had their own equipment. They had sheaths built into their boots for wooden stakes, which meant they each had two of them. Each man had a sheath strapped to his back and was carrying either a sword or an ax. They were also carrying some special items. Four of the men, one in each team, was carrying a pump shotgun that had shells loaded with one ounce slugs of pure silver. Usually guns didn't have any effect on an enraged vampire, except to really piss them off, but silver bullets would kill a vampire if the silver was pure. Most demons could be killed by bullets, lead or silver, if the caliber was heavy enough, that's why they were using one ounce slugs. The rest of the men were carrying crossbows that could fire two arrows before they had to be reloaded. They did take longer to reload than a regular crossbow, but having two quick shots available could come in very handy in a fight. A few of the men were also carrying what looked like large pistols, but turned out to be special high pressure water guns loaded with Holy Water.
At 9:00 the first 'action team' left on foot, followed at fifteen minute intervals by the remaining teams. At 10:00 Buffy's team left the crypt. Before leaving she made sure there were several crossbow loaded and ready to hand, just in case Anya and Dawn might need them. She hugged Dawn, kissed her goodbye and promised she would be careful, then went up the ladder. Tara and Willow each hugged and kissed Dawn goodbye and followed Buffy. Giles and Spike followed them up the ladder next. Xander was the last, he hugged Dawn then turned to Anya for a long kiss. He was still kissing her when Spike whispered from above to hurry up. He went up the ladder fast and helped Spike to move the stone slab over the hole in the floor to cover it.
When they were all outside the crypt Buffy led them through the cemetery to the tractor shed where the cars were hidden. Buffy had decided that they would use Xanders car to take them close to where they would be entering the sewer system. The 'action teams' were all highly trained and in top physical condition and wouldn't have any trouble crossing the five miles of town to reach the warehouse district. Her team, except for herself and Spike would have had much more difficulty doing this in the time allowed. She also didn't want them worn out before they entered the sewers, which would be difficult enough.
Spike opened the shed doors, everyone else got into Xanders car and he backed it out of the shed. Spike closed the door behind him and got into the front seat next to Buffy. Xander drove slowly with his lights out until he was well away from the cemetery then turned them on and drove quickly to the Bronze. He parked a block away in a well lighted area and they waited in the car for a few minutes to be sure no one was around to see them get out with their weapons. One of the reasons for parking where they did was to act as a decoy. If the sorcerer had anyone out looking for Xander's car, they might think he was at the Bronze and it could draw off some of the vamps if they went to the Bronze to look for him. Buffy didn't really like that part of the plan, but Giles had convinced her that if any of the vampires went to the Bronze looking for her or Xander they weren't very likely to cause any other problems and draw attention to themselves.
As soon as they were sure that no one was near they got out of the car and rushed to a narrow alley and entered it. Buffy led the way with her crossbow ready, followed by the others, Spike brought up the rear. They moved through the alley slowly, checking carefully that they weren't seen by anyone. They were a block away from where they would enter the sewers when Buffy spotted a vampire moving through the shadows in their direction. She killed it with a crossbow bolt before it even knew it was in danger. Buffy was concerned that the vampire might have come out of the sewer entrance they were heading for but it was to late to look for another way. They covered the last block extra slow, checking every shadow.
When they got to the sewer entrance Buffy lifted the manhole cover and went down the ladder first, followed by the others, Spike came last pulling the cover back into place. Once in the sewers Buffy and Spike both led the way. Buffy because she was the leader and Spike because he could both hear and see better underground than any of the rest of them. It took well over an hour to travel the mile of sewers to get to the warehouse. They had moved slowly with their senses at their peak seeking out any sign of danger ahead. They only had about a hundred yards to go and they would be directly under the warehouse.
Buffy checked her watch and was relieved she was on time, it was 11:40, the attack was planned for 11:45. She signaled Giles and he pulled a small walkie-talkie out of his pocket and squeezed the send button but didn't speak. They waited anxiously for the reply signal. Within a few seconds three squelch sounds came from the tiny speaker followed a few second later by a fourth. All of the teams were in place, the attack would start on time. They moved quietly the last hundred yards and positioned themselves directly under the manhole cover leading up into the warehouse.
*******
Spike stood at the foot of the ladder, he pulled a plastic bag of blood out of his pocket and bit into it sucking the blood into his mouth and swallowing it in quick gulps. His face changed and he was in full vampire mode with the power of fresh blood coursing through his veins. He moved to the top of the ladder and waited for the signal. Buffy mounted the ladder right behind him, Giles would go next, followed by Xander, Willow and Tara. When the signal came Spike used the full strength of his arms and legs and sent the cover sailing away. Before it could hit the ground he was out of the hole and in the open bringing his crossbow up for a shot. Buffy was beside him within two seconds with her crossbow ready to fire.
Buffy fired first and killed a vampire as he was turning in reaction to the noise of the manhole cover hitting the ground. Spike took out a second one in the back before it reacted at all. They both drew the strings of the crossbows back and set new arrows in place for second shots. They could hear loud noises from other parts of the warehouse as the other four teams broke into the warehouse at their assigned entry points. There were no other vampires near them which gave the others a chance to climb out of the sewer. With Buffy and Spike leading, Giles and Xander on the flanks, Willow and Tara at the center behind Buffy and Spike, they moved quickly forward toward their assigned goal.
The sewer entry was at the back of the warehouse near to where there were stairs leading up to a set of offices. They headed for the stairs hoping to take the sorcerer prisoner before he could rally his minions or cast any spells. Gunfire could be heard coming from four other directions of the warehouse and by the sound moving toward them quickly. As they reached the foot of the stairs a large demon with an ax charged down the stairs. It was the same kind of demon that Buffy had fought at the crypt. She didn't even think, she shot it in the balls with the crossbow bolt. The demon dropped the ax and fell down the stairs. Spike tossed his crossbow to Buffy and had his sword ready, he ripped it's throat out. Two vampires had been following the demon but Giles and Xander got both of them. A third vampire started down the stairs but Buffy got it with Spikes crossbow. She tossed his bow back to him and started loading her own. When they all had their bows ready they started up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs to the right was the office that looked out over the warehouse area. To the left was a large open space where five demons were crouched and ready. As soon as they came into sight the demons charged. Fortunately none of them were the kind that had come down the stairs so that between the four with crossbows two of the demons went down but the other three closed in fast. Spike threw his crossbow into the face of one and charged it with his sword. Buffy smashed her crossbow across the head of one knocking it down and drew her sword to deal with the third. Giles rushed forward with his hand ax and killed the one Buffy had knocked down as it started to rise. Xander had reloaded his bow and was ready.
Willow and Tara had just reached the top of the stairs when they heard noise behind them. Six vampires and four demons were charging across the floor below for the stairs. Tara moved behind Willow and put her hands on each of her shoulders. Tara's powers weren't very good for offensive attacks, but she could act as a power source for Willow. Willow pointed her hands at the vampires and started launching fireballs. As the fireballs hit the vampires they burst into flame and turned to dust. The four demons kept coming, one fell to the floor on fire and screaming. One of the large demons with the rhino like skin took the front and waded through the fireballs without stopping. Just as he reached the top of the stair at full speed Willows fireballs sputtered out and was replaced by a shimmering glow. The glow was a protective field, the demon slammed into it and was repulsed by the same amount of energy he exerted, he flew back over the heads of the two demons behind him and crashed head first to the floor below.
Xander had moved to the side of the stair and shot one of the demons in the head with his crossbow bolt as it cleared the stairs. The glow faded from around Willow and Tara, Willow launched a stream of small fireballs that covered the demon in flames. It ran right past them as they jumped to the side and fell to the floor in flames. The shooting from other parts of the warehouse had been intense for a couple of minutes but had leveled off to an occasional shot.
Buffy and Spike had finished off the two demons they had been fighting. The six of them turned and headed for the office. Xander was reloading his crossbow and Giles already had his loaded. When they got to the door Buffy kicked it down and charged in with Spike at her side. There were four vampires inside the office that attacked immediately. With her short sword in one hand and a stake in the other Buffy stepped forward to meet them. Spike swung his long sword with all his strength and took the outreaching arm and head off of the first one. Buffy blocked a club with her sword and stabbed a vampire in the chest with her stake. A third vampire turned to dust just as he reached her, shot by either Giles or Xander. Spike had got himself turned back around and stabbed the fourth vampire in the back. Stabbing the vampire didn't kill it, but it slowed it down for just long enough for Buffy to stab it with a stake. They looked around the office and couldn't see anyone else.
Giles and Xander moved back to cover the doorway as Willow and Tara stepped into the office and Tara closed her eyes. She focused her power and pointed to under the desk. Willow cast a glittering powder in the air and it settled on something crouched under the desk. Spike rushed forward and threw the desk crashing across the room. Buffy raised her sword and was ready to strike when a high pitched voice screamed out "Don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me!"
Buffy halted her sword and yelled out "Show yourself now or die!"
Slowly a crouching shape became visible, it was a short fat man wearing a black robe. Buffy reached out and grabbed the man and pulled him to his feet. Buffy wasn't all that tall herself, but she was at least six inches or more taller than the man she had hold of by the arm. She put the point of her sword against his neck, "If you do anything, anything at all, your going to die! Do you understand?" she yelled at him.
The man started sobbing and between sobs cried "Please don't hurt me!"
When Buffy finally calmed down enough to get a good look at the man she could see that he was maybe four foot ten inches tall, was so fat he was almost round and was almost completely bald with little wisps of thin blond hair hanging down the sides and back of his head. He also looked like he might be in his late twenties or early thirties. She couldn't believe that this was the sorcerer they had been so worried about and had hidden underground from all week.
Giles signaled her and she heard a noise coming up the stairs. Willow and Tara moved up to each side of the sorcerer. Willow made a fireball appear in her hand as she took hold of his arm and threaten him with it. Tara took hold of his other arm and threaten him with a wooden stake. Buffy and Spike readied their swords and Giles and Xander pointed their crossbow at the doorway.
It wasn't a vampire or a demon that appeared at the door, it was Mr. Mensey who walked through the doorway with a big smile on his face. "You got him! That's wonderful, simply wonderful!" he said to Giles. Two of the other men from the 'action teams' followed him inside the office. One of the men started to swing his shotgun toward Spike but Buffy stepped forward quickly and placed her blade at his throat. "No mistakes, remember?" she said quietly as the point drew blood. Giles and Xander raised their crossbows and pointed them at Mr. Mensey and the other man.
"Yes, Yes, Mr. Smith. We don't want any mistakes now do we?" Mr. Mensey said as he took a step back.
As the two men lowered their guns Buffy withdrew her sword blade from Mr. Smith's neck. "Yes" she said "we have him. Now what do we do with him?"
"Why, we question him of course" Mr. Mensey replied. "We have to find out how he was going to break the binding and what kind of spells he knows. Then will take him back to England with us for the Counsel to question."
Buffy and Spike stepped out of his way and for the first time Mr. Mensey got a good look at the sorcerer who was being held by Willow and Tara. Tears were running down his face and snot was running from his nose. He looked pathetic.
********
(Saturday, 12:05AM)
They needed to get away from the warehouse as soon as possible. With all the shooting going on someone not a vampire or a demon must have heard the noise and called the police by now. Buffy told Mr. Mensey that they would take the sorcerer with them through the sewers back to their car. He and his men should disappear and meet them in an hour at the Magic Shop. Mr. Mensey started to object but Buffy ignored him and marched the fat little sorcerer out of the office and down the stairs. Spike went down first, followed by Willow and Tara, then the sorcerer, Giles, Xander and Buffy last. Once in the sewers and no longer concerned with being discovered they moved through the sewers quickly back to where they had left Xanders car. Buffy had tied the sorcerers hands behind him, Willow and Tara had him by both arms and marched him along. Everytime he stepped on something slimy he let out a squeal of panic, he was very afraid of the dark.
Once they got to the car Buffy didn't waste any time. She had Xander open the trunk and tossed the fat little sorcerer into it and slammed the lid down. They all piled into the car and Xander drove quickly to the back of the Magic Shop. When they got there they found that the backdoor had been broken in and that things inside the shop were a mess. When they got to the front of the shop they found the work table turned over, cases and salable items smashed and the safe had been pulled out into the middle of the room and the safe door pried open. Giles was furious and was ready to take the cost of everything out of the little sorcerers hide. The little fat man cringed away from him and started crying again. Giles looked at him with discuss and walked away.
Seeing the shape the shop was in, Buffy asked Xander to drive over to her house to see if it was still standing. He left right away and was back in a half hour. He told her that the house had been broken into and that there was damage downstairs, but it didn't look like they had even bothered going upstairs. When Buffy asked how much damage he told her she would need a new kitchen and new living room furniture, but they hadn't even touched the dinning room.
Just as Xander finished with his bad news Mr. Mensey came in through the back door with five of his men. Three of his men had been injured in the fight and were being cared for by the other three. They were back where they had been hiding before they ever came to the crypt. When Mr. Mensey made a comment about the 'mess' and 'what a shame it was' Buffy stared at him for a moment then started getting mad. These Counsel asshole's really rubbed her the wrong way.
It took less than twenty minutes of questioning to find out who the little sorcerer was and the extent of his powers. He was James MacPherson the Fourth, the great grandson of one of the original founders of the MacPherson Clan in Sunnydale. He was a disappointment to his whole family and was called the 'Runt' by all his brothers and cousins, even those younger than him.
He had found some old records written by his grandfather that told of the hidden artifacts and what they could do. He had also found a spell that if it was combined with the blood of a Slayer at her time of death would release the vampire king. He had never tried 'blood' magic before, but he had thought that if he released the vampire king from his binding the vampire would be in his debt and would raise him to the head of the clan.
He was only capable of doing two spells, one that made him invisible for short periods of time and one that made him appear strong and powerful, as long as the person seeing him didn't get a close look at him. That was why he wore the black robes all the time. They also found out that all the effort that Willow had gone through to do a spell of concealment had been unnecessary. The little sorcerer had no idea how to do a locator spell to find them or the artifacts. The only reason they were able to find Buffy's home and the Magic Shop was because he had bought the information from a little man who ran a bar called 'Willy's Place'.
MacPherson admitted that he had a spell book that had belonged to his grandfather that he had found. He could only make two of the spells work, they were the easier ones. When he found the spell of unbinding and learned that there was a Slayer living right here in Sunnydale he decided to take a chance and see if he could make it work. He had used all of his money and the one spell to convince a group of vampires and demons to help him by telling them that when the vampire king was unbound he would lead them all to greatness with his powers.
They were just about ready to stop questioning him when Giles asked why his family had never tried to do the spell of unbinding before? MacPherson told them that the sons of the founders had poisoned the founders, that's why they all died in a short period of time. The sons had liked being rich and powerful men in Sunnydale and had no interest in unbinding the vampire king. That was why they had buried the artifacts where they thought they would never be found, in the graves of the five men that had spent their whole lives trying to find a way to do the unbinding.
The clan had continued to tap the power of the Hellmouth for a couple of decades, but after the deaths of the grandfathers there wasn't anyone left in the family that knew enough magic to do it anymore. The whole clan had been living off of the wealth that the founders and the grandfathers had made for years. They had tried a number of legitimate business ventures, but none of them had been very successful at it. They had tried politics by supporting the old Mayor, but when he died when the high school blew up they had abandoned politics too.
Everyone stood in silence, no one could believe that this pathetic little man without any real powers as a sorcerer had actually thought he could survive an unbinding. Even if by some major miracle he had managed to actually pull off the unbinding of the spirit of the vampire king and have him reincorporated, did he really think that the vampire would be grateful and let him live? The idea that his primary goal was to get the vampire king to make him the head of the family clan was ludicrous. If released the vampire king in combination with the Hellmouth would have become one of the most powerful forces on the planet and all this little man had thought about was that he would be able to lord it over all his relatives who had teased him and treated him badly in the past. The man wasn't just pathetic, he was totally insane.
**********
With the story told, the sorcerer captured and his minions destroyed, it seemed the threat was over. Now what do they do? Mr. Mensey told them that even though MacPherson didn't seem to be a real threat, he had his orders from the Counsel to bring him back to London for further questioning. Now all they needed to do was go back to the crypt and retrieve the artifacts and he would be on his way.
Spike, who had been walking around the smashed up shop, but listening closely to everything marched up to Mensey in full vamp mode and yelled into his face "Not...Bloody...Fucking...Likely!"
"This is none of your concern" Mensey said as he took a step back "this is Counsel business."
"Fuck the Bloody Counsel" Spike said still in a rage. "Look at this place, it's a fuck'n wreck. Who's going to pay for the damages? And Buffy's home's been wrecked, who's going to pay for that? And my place, it's a fuck'n shambles!"
"What's that got to do with the Counsel" Mensey asked defensively? "It's none of our concern!"
"Well it is now you bloody asshole" Spike yelled at him. "It was the Counsel's incompetent information that sent the Slayer and her gang into hiding in the first place. If they hadn't been hiding none of this would have happened." As he said this Spike waved his hand around to indicate the damages to the shop.
Giles started to say something to defend the Counsel. They, along with him, had based their warning to Buffy to go into hiding on the threat as it appeared to be. No one had known that the sorcerer they had all been worried about was an incompetent little worm. Tara grabbed hold of his arm and signaled him to be silent.
"You can have the 'little shit' if you want him" Spike raged on "but I'll be damned if your going to walk off with the treasure too! I helped Buffy save it, so I have a claim on it as much as anyone."
Spike turned to Buffy and said "Look Slayer, I know some people that buy and sell this magical stuff all the time. There are collectors out there that would pay us a fortune for some of those things. All I have to do is contact them and in a couple of days we would all have enough money we wouldn't ever have a worry to think about again."
"You can't do that" Mensey yelped out in a near panic. "Those artifact are much too dangerous to let someone buy them."
"Who's going to stop us" Spike yelled back at him? "I been doing some figuring and the way I count it, you and your men bagged a total of nine vampires and six demons at the warehouse, and three of your men got injured. The six of us" Spike said as he indicated Buffy and the Scoobies, "took out fifteen vamps and ten demons by ourselves. In fact 'Red' and her 'girlfriend' there took out almost half of them by themselves without even work'n up a sweat. Plus we captured the 'Great Big Wizard' you were so afraid of taking over the world. I don't think it's bloody likely that you and your whole gang could stop us, do you?"
"Anyway, we wouldn't sell it all to the same person" Spike continued, "we could spread it out all over the world. I'm telling ya Slayer, we could all be rich. Hell, I could pry the stones out of that fuck'n cross and make us rich just on that alone. What we could get for the rest of the stuff could add up to millions."
Mr. Mensey had been turning pale, when Spike spoke of prying the stones out of the cross he went totally white. "Miss Summers" he stammered out " you can't let him do that. That cross is a relic that dates back at least fifteen hundred years. Even if it wasn't an artifact of immense power, it's historical value is beyond measure."
Buffy looked over at Mr. Mensey with a cheerful look on her face. "I understand your concern Mr. Mensey" Buffy said with her most 'dumb blonde' tone of voice. "But Spike is right, we could be rich if we sell the stuff. I don't know about Giles, but I don't have any money to fix up my house and with this place wrecked it doesn't look like I have a job anymore. I'm really going to have to get some money somewhere, I have to take care of my sister. You understand don't you?"
Tara let go of Giles arm and gave him a little nudge forward. Giles understood immediately and moved in between Buffy and Mr. Mensey. "Buffy" he said in a soothing tone "maybe some other arrangements could be made." Giles turned to Mr. Mensey, "What do you think Mr. Mensey? Do you think the Counsel might want to arrange something, some kind of compensation I mean? Something that would satisfy everyone concerned."
"Yes. Yes, I'm sure that they would" Mensey said desperately.
Spike threw his arms up in the air and roared with frustration then stormed across the room to sit down in a chair to brood.
Giles led Mr. Mensey toward the front of the wrecked shop and they started talking quietly. After about ten minutes Mr. Mensey pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the Counsel. They were on the phone for about an hour, passing the phone back and forth, each of them taking turns talking to someone on the Counsel. In the end Giles returned to Buffy with a smile on his face.
He told her that the Counsel had agreed to pay for all the damages to her home and the Magic Shop, which he had explained to the Counsel would be quite expensive, this was California after all and things cost a lot more here than other parts of the world. They had also decided that they would start paying Buffy a monthly stipend to help support her so that she could take care of herself and her sister. Plus a small bonus to all the Scoobies for their inconvenience over the past week. And a one time bounty to Spike for his assistance in this whole affair. When Buffy heard what the total amount would add up to she agreed immediately. Giles went back to Mr. Mensey and told him Buffy had agreed. Mr. Mensey informed the man from the Counsel on the phone and the deal was finalized.
Mr. Mensey wanted to go get the artifacts right now, but Buffy told him that he could have the artifacts when the money arrived. She suggested that he take MacPherson to where ever he needed to take him and to come back in a few days with the money, in cash. Mr. Mensey wasn't pleased, but he gathered his men and they left out the backdoor with the little sorcerer in their custody.
As soon as they were safely gone Spike stood up with a big smile on his face and walked over to Buffy. "We make a pretty good team, don't we Slayer" he said to her with a big smirk on his face?
"We do in fact Spike" Buffy said with a big smile on her face as she looked at him. Spikes felt a pain of pure pleasure pass through his body. The Slayer, 'Buffy', had never looked at him that way before, it made him dizzy.
All of the others in the room joined in on the celebration. Everyone was hugging everyone else and trading kisses. No one, except Tara, hugged Spike, but they were all slapping him on the shoulder or touching him on the arm to show their approval of what he had made happen. Buffy didn't kiss Spike, or hug him, or kiss him, but she did keep smiling at him. That was enough.
It was almost 4:00 and Buffy suggested they go back to the crypt and let Dawn and Anya know that everything was okay now. They also needed to retrieve the artifacts and get some sleep, everyone was exhausted. They closed the broken backdoor behind them and got into Xanders car. Spike sat in the front seat next to Buffy. Xander drove straight to the crypt and they all got out together and entered the crypt.
When Spike started moving the stone slab that covered the hole leading down to the underground vaults a crossbow bolt came whizzing through the opening and just missed him. Spike roared and jumped back cussing about the danger of giving weapons to teenaged girls and exdemons. Buffy called out and shined a flashlight down into the dark hole. Dawn and Anya were at the bottom of the ladder, each with a crossbow. Dawn had been the one who fired through the hole. Dawn dropped her crossbow and rushed up the ladder and wrapped her arms around Buffy and hugged her tightly. She had tears of joy running down her face she was so happy that Buffy was alright. While Buffy was still hugging Dawn, Anya came up through the hole and threw her arms around Xander and started kissing him all over his face.
As soon as they could calm Dawn down and unwrap Anya from Xander they all went down the ladder and went back to Spikes crypt. Buffy gave a brief summary of what happened during the night and told Dawn she would tell her it all later. Tara and Willow walked over to the bed, climbed up onto it, pulled a blanket over themselves as they held each other and went to sleep almost immediately. Anya grabbed up several blankets and pulled Xander out of the vault to go find a place more private. Giles went over to the couch and laid down, he had been burning a lot of adrenaline the past few days and fell to sleep in a few minutes. Buffy told Dawn to get some sleep and watched her climb up on the bed next to Willow and Tara. Buffy's eye's were drooping from exhaustion, but she didn't want to just go to sleep and leave Spike alone. He had done to much tonight, he deserved better.
Spike looked at Buffy and knew she needed sleep. He got up from the chair he had been straddling and said "Get some sleep Buffy. I'll keep an eye on things." He then walked around the room putting out all the candles except one. Buffy watched Spike walk out of the door of the crypt as he was lighting a cigarette. Buffy climbed onto the bed and was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.
*********
Buffy woke up and looked around, Willow and Tara were still asleep, wrapped in each others arms. Giles was snoring quietly on the couch. Dawn was missing. She got off the bed slowly and went to look for her. As she entered the hall she saw a light down where she had seen Spike reading the book of poems the first day they were at the crypt. She walked down the hall quietly without a light. As she got near she could hear Spike and Dawn talking.
Spike was sitting on the floor with his arm wrapped around Dawns shoulder. She was snuggled into him and had her head resting on his shoulder. Spike had one leg drawn up and was resting his arm on his knee. He had a burning cigarette in his fingers. As Buffy drew near she could hear him, but was outside of the light of the candle and couldn't be seen.
"Ya should have seen it Niblet" Spike was saying, "I heard her tell that Mensey bloke, before we ever left, that none of his men had better have any mistakes where I was concerned during the fighting, or else. When that Smith fell'a started to swing his shotgun toward me, she move in so fast and had her blade to his throat in a blink. You should have seen him, I thought he was going to swallow his tongue. His eyes almost popped out. She was something else tonight, she really was." Spike sighed and took a drag off of his cigarette, blowing the smoke up into the air.
Dawn giggled a little, then sighed herself. "Spike" Dawn asked quietly "why do you think Buffy has such a hard time liking you? I mean you have saved her life at least a dozen times, and I know she has saved your life too, you told me so. So why can't she like you like I do?"
"I don't know, Niblet" Spike replied with a sigh. "Maybe it's because I didn't save her life the one time it really counted. Maybe it's because I'm a vampire and tried to kill her in the past. Maybe it's a lot of things. I don't know."
"But Spike" Dawn said "that doesn't make sense. She loved Angle and he was a vampire, and he tried to kill her too."
"I know" Spike sighed again "I think the big thing is not having a soul. She doesn't believe it's possible for a demon to love someone. I don't get it me self. I've know a lot of men with souls that were so evil they'd cut your throat for a penny." Spike took another draw off of his cigarette and held it in for a long time before blowing out the smoke. Buffy backed up into the dark and left them to their conversation in private. As she walked quietly down the dark hall back to the vault a tear ran down the side of her face, followed by another.
*********
When Giles woke up he looked around and saw that Willow and Tara were still sleeping. He checked his watch and saw that it was almost noon. Buffy was sitting at the table reading a book, the bag of wrapped up artifacts was sitting on the table in front of her. He got up and joined her at the table. "We need to be getting out of here pretty soon" he said to her quietly "we have a lot of repair work to do if were going to secure your house and the shop before dark. I'd also like to get some decent food."
Buffy smiled a him and said "I've just been waiting on you guy's. Xander and Anya are awake in another room. He's been telling her all that happened last night. Dawn's with Spike somewhere, talking, she's been up for hours. I wanted to let the rest of you sleep until you woke on your own, it's been a stressful week for everyone."
"I'm up" Willow said sleepily from the bed "I just don't want to get up. This is the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in."
"Me too" Tara mumbled.
"Well if you guy's are awake, we really do need to get started. Giles is right about needing to get home and securing it before dark." Buffy said.
Willow and Tara slowly climbed out of the bed and stretched. The noise of their talking had drawn the attention of Anya and Xander and they walked into the crypt carrying their blankets. "Are we going to take all of this stuff back with us today" Xander asked?
"No, just our cloths and blankets. We can come back and get the rest of it later" Buffy replied.
Dawn and Spike walked into the room as she finished. "Oh, fantastic" Dawn said joyfully "I get the bathroom first. I smell so bad I can't stand myself!"
"You smell fine Niblet" Spike said to her "just fine."
"Your nose must be dead" Dawn replied "we all stink."
Buffy lifted her arm and smelled herself "You know Dawn, when your right, your right, we do stink. Let's get out of here."
Everyone rushed around gathering their cloths together and their blankets. They headed down the hall and followed each other up the ladder. When they were in the upper vault Buffy turned to Spike and said "Come by the house after dark, we have some business to take care of with Willy."
Spike looked at her and smiled. He reached into his pocket and pulled her car keys out. He'd had them since he parked her car in the tractor shed the first night. "Your going to need these" he said as he held them out to her. As Buffy took them from his hand she let their touch linger for a few moments longer than necessary.
"Thank you Spike" she said to him quietly "for everything." She turned from him and walked out into the sun light.
*********
(12:35PM)
Buffy's car was parked next to Xanders. Spike had brought it over while they were sleeping. They got into their car's and headed for Buffy's house. When they got there they couldn't see any damage from the front of the house, but when she opened the front door and entered the house she could see the wreck that had taken place in the living room. Almost every piece of furniture was broken, the couch had been ripped to shreds and the TV had been smashed in. She walked past the dinning room and saw that Xander had been correct, they hadn't touched a thing in there. Buffy was happy for that, at least they hadn't broken her mothers good china dishes, they were one of the few good things she had to remind herself of her mother.
When she walked into the kitchen it was a bigger mess than the living room. The stove and the refrigerator were turned over and the smell of spoiled food was in the air. Cabinet doors had been ripped off and broken. Broken dishes, pots, pans and utensils were everywhere on the floor. The kitchen table and chairs had been broken into kindling wood. The back door had been kicked off of it's hinges and was laying on the floor with the glass broken out.
When Tara saw the kitchen a soft sigh came from her lips. Willow came to Buffy and hugged her. Dawn stood there looking around, she couldn't understand why the demons had wrecked everything. No one was at home, the artifacts hadn't been there, why did they do this? Xander and Giles had picked the door up off the floor and Xander was checking the door frame for damage. Giles got the money from the Magic Shop that Anya had been carrying around since they went into hiding and gave it to Xander, telling him to get whatever he needed to fix this door and the one at the Magic Shop.
For the rest of the day everyone was busy. First picking up the mess and repairing the door at Buffy's house, then Giles and Xander going to the Magic Shop to repair the door there. Giles wasn't concerned with picking up the mess there yet, just fixing the door. Xander had suggested and Giles had agreed that a steel backdoor would be the best thing to replace the old door and frame at the Magic Shop. It took two hours to buy the door, take it to the shop and install it. When they got back to Buffy's most of the mess had been picked up and piled outside. Xander told Buffy that he would get a truck the next day and haul it away.
With everything cleaned up as best as could be, the trash outside, what was salvageable sorted out and put away, there wasn't anything else to do tonight. Giles had called a little earlier for pizza and when the delivery came they wolfed the food down.
They were still eating when Spike arrived. Dawn had been working all afternoon to help clean up the mess. She had never made it to her shower. When she saw Spike she ran up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Spike hugged her back and whispered in her ear to soothe her. Buffy seeing this was again touched by how close the two of them were to each other.
********
(8:41PM)
When Buffy got up off the floor where she had been sitting while eating she looked over at Spike and asked "Are you ready?"
"Whenever you are Slayer" he replied.
Buffy put on a jacket, tucked two wooden stakes in her waistband and headed for the door. Spike followed her outside to the car. "I'm to tired to walk" was her only comment. Spike didn't say anything and got into the car beside her. She backed out of the driveway, then drove to 'Willy's Place'.
When they walked through the door at 'Willy's Place' Willy was behind the bar as usual. When he saw Buffy he went pale and beads of sweat popped out on his forehead. Buffy walked directly behind the bar. Willy backed up as far as he could until his back was against the beer cooler. Spike stationed himself at the end of the bar facing out into the room, no one was going to get past him without a fight.
"Hello Willy" Buffy said calmly "guess where I've been lately?"
"How would I know Slayer" Willy said loudly trying to draw attention.
"That's right you didn't know, did you" she continued in a calm voice. "If you had you probably would have sold that information too, wouldn't you?"
Buffy punched him in the stomach hard doubling him over. She grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up slamming his head against the cooler. "While I was gone someone paid a visit to my home and where I work and trashed both of the places. I couldn't imagine who could have done such a thing." She slammed his head against the cooler again.
A demon and a vampire started toward the bar, Spike opened his coat and unhooked his sword pulling it out into the open. "Private conversation gentlemen, maybe you should sit back down" he said to them. They both looked at the sword and decided that Willy wasn't worth it and sat down.
"But you know what Willy" she said as she banged his head against the cooler again? "I paid a little visit to a friend of yours last night and he told me that you sold him some information on where I lived and where I worked." Buffy punched him in the stomach again. Willy bent over and started to gag. Buffy pulled him up by the hair and banged his head against the cooler again. Willy started to slump, but Buffy grabbed him by the shirt and slapped him hard a couple of times. "Don't go to sleep Willy, it's not nice."
"Your friends did a lot of damage to my home Willy, and to the place I work too. There wasn't any reason for it. They just smashed things up. It's going to cost a lot of money to replace everything they wrecked. What do you think about that? Who do you think I should blame for what happened?" Buffy's calm voice was scaring Willy more than being hit by her. She had been hitting him and threatening for information for several years, but he had never been this afraid before.
"I can't blame them anymore Willy, their all dead now" she continued calmly. Willy started to slump down again, it was fear that was taking the strength from his knees this time. He was certain that the Slayer was going to kill him. Buffy pulled him back up and banged him against the cooler again. "Who do you think should pay for the damages Willy? There isn't anyone left but you now. Your the only one left alive."
Willy looked up at Buffy, his eyes wild. "What do you want Slayer" he choked out? "Do you want money, I can pay. I can pay what ever you want."
"There was a lot of damage Willy" Buffy said softly. "Do you have that much?"
"Yeah, I've got it" he gasped out "in my office."
Buffy let Willy go and stepped back, "Let's just see how much you have. Let's see if it's enough."
Willy walked on wobbly legs from behind the bar and through the doorway leading to the backroom where his office was located. He unlocked the door, walked into the office and knelt down at his safe. He spun the combination lock to open the safe. Just as he started to open it Buffy put her hand on his shoulder. "Just in case you have a gun or something else in there Willy, I just want you to know, your not fast enough!" As Buffy said this she squeezed his shoulder until he gasped with pain.
"No tricks Slayer, honest" he gasped out through the pain. When he pulled the safe door open there was a gun laying inside of it, but he moved real slow and picked up a metal box instead. He stood up and set the box down on top of the safe. He pulled a keyring out of his pocket, moving slowly all the time and unlocked the box. When he opened the box it was full of bundles of money.
"How much is there Willy" she asked him?
"About twelve grand, a little more maybe" Willy said as he stared down at the money and licked his lips, his mouth was very dry.
Buffy closed the lid of the box and picked it up, tucking it under her arm. She took Willy by the arm and led him from his office back to the bar. When she got there she looked him in the eyes. Willy tried to avoid direct eye contact. Buffy reached out and lifted his head so that he was looking her in the eyes. "I'll be back for the second half tomorrow night Willy" she said softly. "You have it ready when I get here. Do you understand?"
Willy nodded his head and swallowed, sweat was running in rivulets off of his face.
Buffy let go of him and started to turn away. Willy sighed deeply with relief until she turned back around. The breath caught in his throat. "And Willy, if anyone ever comes to my house again, you had better be dead or far, far away." Willy nodded his head in understanding.
Buffy turned around and walked out the doorway. Spike backed out the door following her outside.
*********
Buffy drove about a mile before she pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the ignition. She opened the box and pulled two bundles of money out and silently handed them to Spike. He looked at the money and put it inside his coat pocket. Buffy reached over the seat and dropped the box in the backseat. She pulled the two wooden stakes from her waistband an dropped them in the backseat too. Spike sat there quietly, not saying anything. He was watching Buffy closely and could tell she was on edge. As he sat there watching her he saw tears start running down her face. She didn't sob or make any noise, but the tears kept flowing.
After several minutes Buffy used the backs of her hands to wipe the tears away. She pulled a tissue from a dispenser and blew her nose, then put the tissue in a little litter bag hanging from under the dashboard. She didn't look in Spikes direction as she spoke. "I was going to kill him tonight. Did you know that when you agreed to come with me?"
Spike spoke one word "No."
" I was. When I walked in there I was certain I was going to kill him. But it came to me that killing him wouldn't really be making him pay for what he did. That's when the idea of making him pay money came to me. If he hadn't offered enough, I might have still killed him. I don't know. I've never been that close to killing a human before. It scared me that I was so willing to do it." She stopped talking and sat silent for several minutes.
"I didn't give you the money to make me feel less guilty. I gave it to you to say thank you" Buffy said in a quiet voice.
"I know" Spike said in a soft gentle voice.
She sat quietly for a few more minutes then turned sideways in her seat so that she was looking at him face on. "Spike, don't say anything. Just be quiet." Buffy leaned toward him and reached out and opened his coat. She unhooked his sword and threw it into the backseat. She then got up on her knees on the seat of the car and leaned into him, taking him by the head with both hand and kissed him. It was a gentle kiss at first, a tentative kiss. As the kiss continued it grew in passion. She moved herself across the seat until she had straddled his lap. She started kissing his face slowly, brushing her lips across his skin. Her eyes were closed. She returned to his lips and kissed him again. When she probed his lips with her tongue he opened his mouth and met her tongue with his own. The passion between them mounted. Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck to hold him. Spike brought his arms up around her and held her to him as he returned her kiss with his own passion rising.
When Buffy felt Spikes hard-on she sat back and reached down and rubbed it with her fingers. She could feel how hard it was and how large through his pants. She unbuttoned his pants and pulled the zipper all the way down. She moved around until she could put her feet on the floor board to take her weight off of his lap. Spike pushed his pants down to his knees. He then reached out and unbuttoned her pants and unzipped them. He pushed her pants and panties down around her ankles. She restraddled his lap and could feel his hard cock pressing against her.
"Buffy I" Spike started to say. Buffy pressed her lips against his and kissed him hard. When she ended the kiss she said "Don't say anything" then kissed him deeply again. She started moving her hips, rubbing her pussy against his hard cock. She reached down as she raised herself up and wrapped her hand around his cock. She bent it back until the head of his cock was pressed against her vagina and lowered herself down the length of his cock slowly. When she could feel that she had his full length inside of her she started working her legs and hips raising and lowering herself up and down his cock. She had her arms around him and was kissing him as she moved up and down. Spike gripped her hips with both hands and helped her to move up and down. As she raised herself up he pulled himself away from her. As she lowered herself he would thrust up into her. Within a short time they had each others rhythm and the passion between them grew until they were both panting. Buffy could feel her passion rising and felt alive. As the intensity grew she moved herself faster and faster. She slammed herself all the way down on his hard cock feeling him enter her all the way. Spike was holding on to her and was thrusting into her as fast as she was slamming herself down on him. He felt himself getting close to cumming and kept thrusting harder. Buffy reached her orgasm and started cumming. She never stopped working herself up and down his hard cock. She felt him as he came inside of her. She continued to ride up and down bringing him to full pleasure. When she stopped she didn't lift herself off of him, she continued to straddle him and kiss him deeply.
Buffy could feel that Spike was still hard inside of her, when she felt him thrust up inside of her she smiled against his lips and started working herself up and down regaining their rhythm. It took longer for Spike to reach orgasm this time and cum inside of her, but Buffy didn't mind at all. She had reached orgasm three times and each time it was like a spark of life going off inside of her. She could feel that he was still hard and started riding his cock again. The third time took longer and the fourth time longer still. Buffy was soaking wet from passion and perspiration but she'd had twelve or fourteen orgasms, she wasn't sure, she had lost the count during a series of multiple orgasms that had left her panting as she continued to ride Spikes hard cock and feel it slamming up inside of her.
After Spike had cum the fourth time she could feel him softening inside her. They had been fucking each other for almost three hours with hardly a pause between. For those three hours Buffy had felt more alive than for longer than she could remember. The sex with Xander and the others had been wonderful and had made her happy. But the sex with Spike had made her feel alive. Buffy lifted herself up off of Spike and using the strength of her arms pulled herself back over to the drivers seat. She still had her pants and panties tangled around her ankles and it made things awkward. Once she could straighten herself around she pulled her panties and pants up, zipped her pants and buttoned them. Spike had pulled his pants up also and had zipped and buttoned them.
Buffy started the car and drove to the cemetery where she stopped at the gate. Spike got out of the car and closed the door. He bent over to say something through the window. Buffy handed him his sword instead. She drove away without saying anything. Spike stood there watching her car disappear down the street. When she turned a corner and he could no longer see her taillights he turned around and walked to his crypt. He started humming and old song by Billie Holiday about broken hearts and lost love, but he was smiling the whole time.
*******
(Sunday, 1:23AM)
When Buffy entered the house everyone else had gone to bed. She carried the box with the money up to her room. She undressed and walked naked to the bathroom and took a long hot shower. When she dried off she walked back to her room and got into bed. She laid there in bed trying to relive the feeling that she'd had while having sex with Spike. The more she tried to regain the feeling the farther away it seemed to be. She knew that what she had done tonight was a mistake she would have to pay for later. She had felt so low, so dirty, for wanting to kill Willy, not just wanting but ready to do it. She had reached out to the only person who was there. The only person who seemed to always be there when she was feeling lost and alone. The only person who said he loved her that she couldn't love in return. The only person that made her feel alive.