The hours had seemed longer than they were. Spike had been sitting on the stairs, elbows resting on his thighs and hands clasped between his knees. He'd been there the whole day, staring at the wooden floor, waiting for anyone to come while he recovered a bit and for the sun to set. He just sat there and did nothing. He hated every minute of it.

He looked up at the still closed door. He wanted Buffy to come home. The banter they always used to have, he now realized, was something he greatly missed. He wanted Willow to burst through the door, all smiles, and excitedly rattle off some science-related jargon no one could understand.

He just wanted things back to the way they were.

But he was starting to accept that things had changed and they couldn’t be like they were. And if Buffy had really gone over to the dark side, he'd still love her. Because she was Buffy. He just wasn't sure if he'd tolerate or allow her actions.

He inhaled deeply, ran his left hand on the side of his neck, settling it on his nape, and gazed back at the floor. Right now, even if his body was still a bit sore, a demon would have been great. A kill wouldn't hurt right then, with all his pent up anxiety and anger. But no one had come.

The sun had finally set and he slowly stood up, his jaw and hands clenched. He swiftly grabbed his coat from the railing and sauntered to the threshold. He opened the door, inhaling deeply as he stepped out onto the front porch. He needed to find Willow.

Looking around for any sign of Buffy or Willow, he walked down Revello Drive. He tried to pick up their scents, nostrils flaring, until he got to the main street. He stopped, closed his eyes and groaned as he rubbed his temples. He still felt tired and his body still ached from the beating Buffy had given him earlier. But that wasn't going to stop him from finding Willow. He continued walking along the main street.

“Help! Please, help me!” Spike suddenly heard a young girl cry. He turned to the alley on his left and saw a girl, about as big as Dawn, cornered by two vampires. He approached them slowly and almost thanked God for finally getting the fight he'd been craving.

“I remember the times I used to suck the life out of little girls,” he said when he was close enough. He let out a deep, nostalgic sigh, while looking up at the night sky.

As soon as the fledglings turned around, he punched one on the nose and side kicked the other one. Both fell to the ground. He pulled the stake out of his coat pocket and slammed it onto the vampires' chest, one by one, as they came at him.

“That's it?” He could hardly believe how easy that was. “And I'm badly injured.” Dusting his coat off, his attention shifted to the girl. “What the hell do you think you're doing? Prancing around at night, alone even, when you know this town's...” He turned around and stopped talking when he saw whom he just saved. “Dawn?”

“Hi, Spike.” Dawn waved and smiled coyly. “What happened to you?” Her smile turned into a frown when she finally took notice of Spike's bruises.

Spike only shook his head. “What are you doing here?” He gently took Dawn by the arm and led her out of the dark alley. “How did you even get here?”

They stood under the flickering light of one of the lampposts. “I overheard you and Willow talking last night.” Dawn ducked her head for a moment and then gazed up into Spike's eyes. “I-is is true? Is she... alive?”

Spike glanced away, not knowing how to answer his little bit's question. “It's complicated.”

“Spike,” Dawn chided. She hated it when one of the Scoobies told her that. She hated it more now that Spike had said it. “I'm not a child.”

“Look. I can't explain things just yet because I don't rightly know what's going on myself.” He took her by the hand and started to pull her. “Right now, we just have to get you somewhere safe.”

“No.” Dawn pulled her hand away from his grip. “I'm coming with you.”

Spike knew that when determined, the Summers girls couldn’t be stopped. He only sighed.



Buffy was sitting across from Willow, tapping her foot impatiently while she waited for the witch to wake up. It was taking longer than she'd anticipated and she was getting pissed.

Willow's head felt heavy and she groaned. She feared opening her eyes and starting the nightmare all over again. She thought that if she could pretend long enough that she was still out cold, maybe Buffy would just leave and assume she was dead.

But Buffy heard her groan. “Good. You're awake.”

Willow sighed and slowly her eyes fluttered open. She struggled to her feet, standing as straight as she could and saw Buffy sitting on a chair in front of her, arms and legs crossed. She noticed that she still had the text in one of her hands.

Buffy uncrossed her legs and stood up. She took a few steps toward Willow and said, “You took so long to wake up, I was afraid Charlie over here had lied to me about what the venom would do to you. If he did, I'd have to kill him. We wouldn’t want that, would we?” She unlocked the chains and freed Willow. Willow rubbed her wrists and righted herself.

Buffy gently caressed Willow's cheek with her free hand as she said in a soft voice, “Wouldn't want anything happen to my witch.” She then tapped Willow's cheek twice. Willow flinched. “Now tell me how to do this ritual.” She handed the pages to Willow.

Sighing deeply, text in hand, Willow looked over the pages once more. “Most of this, the important parts anyway, is written in code. It could take me weeks to decode it without resources.”

“I don't have weeks!” Buffy clenched her jaw in frustration. Her fingers dug into Willow’s cheeks as she forced her to look at the first page of the text. “Tell me something you recognize. Anything. Don't tell me you don’t recognize anything. I took this from your book.”

Willow let out a soft whimper and hastily tried to look for a word she'd seen before. “V-virgin!”

“What?”

“Y-you need a virgin.”

Buffy let go of Willow and stepped back. “Great. See how easy that was? Now start decoding the rest of it. This is what you have to work with.” Calmer now, she pointed at the pile of books on the floor a few feet from them.

Willow's voice shook. “I'll try, but --”

“Good,” Buffy said tersely. She spun around and began to head for the ladder.

“Buffy,” Willow called after her. “Do you even know what this does? What this means? It's written in code for a reason.”

Buffy chuckled dryly and turned back to Willow. “Of course I do.”

“Then why do you even want to do it? The Buffy I knew wouldn't even look at this,” Willow said, raising the text.

“The Buffy you knew is long gone. She died. Or have you forgotten?”

Willow stood quietly staring at the person in front of her that only looked like her best friend. She lowered her head and closed her eyes, fighting back her tears.

“Just do as I say and I won't hurt you. I'm not too sure about them though.” Buffy chuckled and gestured at the ten demons surrounding the two of them. “Try anything and they won't hesitate to kill you. I'll be back later.”

Willow watched Buffy ascend the ladder in her red slutty outfit, which reminded her of Faith. She drew a deep breath and then plopped on the chair Buffy had been sitting on. “I'd take Faith right about now,” she said under her breath.

Above the underground cave of Spike's crypt, Roh'gna waited in anticipation and excitement. The slayer had promised him power beyond his wildest dreams. He only hoped that the slayer keep her word when it all panned out. “Where are you going?” he asked when the slayer moved past him.

“I'm going to find me a virgin, Rhonda.” Buffy rolled her eyes when Roh'gna's only response to her joke was looking at her funny. “Keep an eye on my witch while I'm gone.”