~*~

Spike peered through the large picture window of the house on Revello, watching the trim, attractive blonde woman as she moved about, hands gesturing in an obviously heated conversation with someone Spike couldn’t see. His position under a large tree afforded Spike as good a view as he was likely to get without actually finding his way up the few stairs and onto the porch.

The profile of a man came into view and Spike identified him at once as the Watcher. "Well, seems the bint’s mum’s getting a bit of an education, I’d say." Spike smiled, thinking that there might be a few things he wouldn’t have to explain to the woman after all. His smile turned to a frown as he realized that the Watcher, unlike the Slayer’s mum, would know how to wield a stake. "No time like the present. Maybe the librarian will have a bit of pity for the handicapped."

Spike struggled out of the chair and using the banister to help pull him up the steps, made his painful way up to the porch, nearly collapsing at the door before knocking.

"Did you hear that?" Joyce Summers was hypersensitive to sounds, noticing every creak and rattle ever since Buffy’s school librarian had arrived the day before, filled with unbelievable information explaining the whereabouts of her missing daughter. Naturally, she didn’t believe half of what the man had said, even though he’d been backed up by Buffy’s friends and the lovely computer teacher. Still, Buffy was missing and all was not normal, no matter how she might dismiss the tales of vampires, demons and witches.

"Yes, it came from the porch," Giles acknowledged. He moved closer to Joyce and whispered, "Continue to berate me as though I were still here while I go out the back and circle around. Under no circumstances are you to let anyone in this house." Giles moved stealthily through the kitchen and out the back door.

‘Really! Ordering me around like I was a child!’ Joyce felt her resentment rise to a new level. Obviously this person was far more to her daughter than she had ever imagined, but that still did not give him the right to come into her home and give orders. With that thought, she headed towards the front door, arriving just as Spike began to knock.

Joyce opened the door only to be greeted with the most amazing sight. A young man, face and hands pressed up against….nothing. The door was open wide and the man was clearly leaning his weight there, but it was as if a barrier were in place holding him back.

She was so startled by the sight that she didn’t notice Giles as he came up behind the young man until the librarian threw his arm around the visitor, whirling him around to face away from Joyce.

"What are you doing here, Spike?" The venom in Giles’ voice made it clear that this was not one of Buffy’s circle of friends. "Were you sent by Angel?"

The young man laughed bitterly before replying, "Not bloody likely. Hate the Poof. ‘M here with a message from Buffy and if you stake me, you’ll never know what it is or where she is."

"You know where my daughter is?" Joyce felt hope rise when she received this crumb of assurance that Buffy wasn’t dead. "Come in."

Giles groaned and rolled his eyes at her invitation to the vampire. "Yes, let’s just invite all the vampires in Sunnydale into the Slayer’s home, why don’t we."

The young man fell through the doorway, collapsing at the feet of the Slayer’s mother. Joyce looked at Giles in confusion, "What did you do to him and who is this?"

"You might have thought to ask thatbefore giving a soulless killer carte blanche to your home," Giles snarked.

"This," he kicked at the prone vampire, "is Spike, a ruthless killer, a vampire who has tried on more than one occasion to kill Buffy. Why he is here, I have no idea. Why he is laying on your floor is likely due to an injury he received the last time he attempted to kill Buffy. That left him in a wheelchair." Giles pointed to the abandoned chair at the base of the porch steps.

Giles grabbed Spike by his collar and dragged him the rest of the way through the entry so they could close the front door. He hauled Spike to a dining room chair and thrust him into it before turning back to Joyce. "I don’t suppose you have any decent rope in the house, do you?"

"I have some packing tape. Will that help?" Joyce offered.

"Never mind. He’s likely gotten enough strength back to break the bonds anyway. I’ll just have to keep this pointed at him while we get some answers." Giles pointed the loaded crossbow at the seated vampire. "I’d suggest you arm yourself with at least a cross, Mrs. Summers. Buffy should have a selection in her room. If he should get past me, thrust something wooden through his heart without hesitation."

Throughout Giles’ instructions to Joyce, Spike looked from one to the other in amusement, not saying a word. Finally, he added with a grin, "You could always cut my head off; that works too. I’d suggest tossing me out in the sun, but seein’ how it’s night, that’s out."

Giles was looking at Spike, his mouth agape as Spike continued. "Look, not here to hurt anybody. Wouldn’t turn down an offer of blood mind you, but not here on a hunt or on Angelus’ orders either."

Joyce took a seat next to the vampire and began asking, "You said you knew where Buffy is, how she is. Please, I’m going crazy here with worry. This man has been telling me the most extraordinary things, fairy tales…. I need to know where she is. Has she been kidnapped? Do you want money?"

Spike remembered this woman bravely stepping in to protect her daughter at the school. She reminded him a bit of his own mum, long gone but always missed. "Why don’t I start at the beginning?" Spike put on his game face. "They aren’t fairy tales. You need to listen to the Watcher on that score." He shook off his vampiric visage before said Watcher could panic and let loose the bolt.

Joyce let out a slight squeal at the terrifying sight and what it implied. Still, Buffy was what mattered at the moment, so she steeled herself to not let fear guide her. "All right. We can leave some of that for later and take it on faith for now. Tell me about Buffy. Are you the one who took her?" Then very softly, "Is she still alive?"

"Slayer’s fine for now," he reassured her mother. "Angelus took her. He’s got her chained up at our new nest. He’s a sick bastard though and plans to take his time, torture her a bit."

Joyce gasped in horror, eyes wide.

"Not gonna start with the physical, so don’t panic too much. He’ll mess with her mind first, her heart. Slayer loved him and he’ll use that." Spike hadn’t taken his eyes off Joyce, ignoring the Watcher completely. "That’s why I’m here. Figure you lot can help get her out before it gets into anything serious. That and ‘cause the Slayer told me Angel has an invite here. You’re not safe. She’s really worried about you. All of you."

"And you are here out of the goodness of your heart? Oh, wait, you have no good in you and your heart ceased to beat a century ago," Giles sneered.

"Yeah, well, got my reasons, don’t I?" Spike didn’t want to get into his motives. He wasn’t sure he wanted to look too closely at them himself, much less share the inner workings of himself with a Watcher.

"We are to simply take your information at face value?" Giles snorted in disgust.

"Don’t have any proof. Just my word." Spike finally turned to the Watcher as he laughed at Spike’s vow. "I do what I say, Watcher. Not a liar like my grandsire. I say I’m gonna kill the Slayer, I try to do it. I say I’m here to help get her out of there, I mean it."

Joyce raised her hand and pushed the crossbow so that it was pointed at the floor. "Well, I choose to believe him. Just where is this … nest … of yours where Buffy is chained up?"

"Mansion out on Crawford Street. Wanker moved us all in yesterday after he chained the Slayer there. Had a chat with the bint and came to warn her mum. Figure Angelus will try to hit her first." Spike glared at the Watcher in challenge. "Surprised you didn’t get her out of here already, Watcher."

"Yes, well, I was working on that very thing when you arrived." Giles muttered. "Silly woman won’t listen to reason."

"Reason? You come in here and tell me my daughter is some killer of things I thought were an invention of Hollywood and Anne Rice and that one of them she had been dating turned on her and you want to talk about reason?" Joyce was beside herself. She kept expecting to awaken and laugh over the strange dream she’d had about Buffy and this odd town they had moved into.

"Forget the Rice bint. She wouldn’t know a real vampire if one bit her on the ass! Livin’ in the Big Easy, there’s no excuse for it either! Capital city of vampires in America, it is." Spike shook his head in disgust. "I think they paid her to write that tripe to put people off the truth, if you ask me."

"And no one did." Giles leveled a stern look at Spike. "We are not here to socialize or to chat up theories about pop culture. I assume you are here to offer a deal, a truce to take out Angelus. Am I correct?"

"Yeah. Warn the mum, make a deal, get the Slayer out and get rid of the Poofter…. works for me." Spike grinned.

"Tell me everything you know about Angelus, his plans, how many minions he has at hand. Everything! Do not leave out a single detail or so help me, I'll make certain you dust, but only after I inflict a lot of pain first," Giles threatened.

"Why, Watcher, didn’t know you cared," Spike countered.

~~~

Angelus burst into the mansion filled with fresh blood and vigor. Dru was dancing alongside her daddy, happier than she had been in years. "Honey, I’m home," he tossed at the chained Slayer. "Miss me?"

Buffy forgot Spike’s advice that she play unconscious until it was too late. "I miss Angel, yes. You? Never.

"Come on, Buff! Just a couple of days ago you couldn’t wait to see me. Now here we are living together, screwing…I’d think you’d be a little happier."

Angelus ran a finger across her cheek in a false caress, then grabbed a handful of her hair, twisting it until Buffy cried out in pain.

Buffy whispered through clenched teeth, "Screwing is right. What you did to me last night was rape, not lovemaking, Angel."

Angelus smirked at the chained girl and squeezed her breast as he said, "You know what the worst part was before? Pretending that I loved you. If I’d known how easily you’d give it up, I wouldn’t have even bothered. It’s better with a little blood anyway."

Buffy remembered Spike saying that Angelus would work on her emotions and her mind first. "That doesn’t work anymore. You’re not Angel."

"You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you? It doesn’t matter. The important thing is you made me the man I am today." He smiled at her with pure evil. "Thanks again."

"So where is everybody?" Angelus yelled loudly enough for the minions to hear and come scurrying in from their aborted poker game.

"Right here, boss! What do you need?" The minion looked like one of the Sunnydale High wrestling team members, but Buffy couldn’t remember his name.

"I need minions that anticipate my needs and fill them without me having to draw pictures!" Angelus growled at the now shaking vampire. "Never mind." Angelus sighed, acting much put upon. "It’s still early, go get someone to eat and get back here as soon as you’ve fed. Avoid town and make sure you’re not followed back here."

Dru had gone straight into the bedroom she shared with her daddy, knowing he would want sex after the spree they had been on. She naturally thought he was planning to have that sex with her and not the chained Slayer.

"So, Buffy, wanna know how my day’s been?" Angelus was unbuttoning Buffy’s shirt as he asked.

"Not particularly. I’m not into sick stories like that," she spat.

Angelus chuckled. "Oh, yeah, still full of spirit. Gonna love breaking that! May take a while, but it’ll be worth it." He had begun to work on her pants now.

"Well, dear, I had the nicest visit with the Scooby group tonight. They send their love, by the way. Dropped by Willow’s on the way to hunt. Shame about those fish. Mammals say it so much better, really. I mean, what kind of a pet are fish anyway?"

"What did you do?" Buffy asked, the fear stark and unmistakable in her voice.

"Did a little fishing before hunting. I’m an all around outdoorsman, Buff."

He laughed at her anguish. "Oh, don’t worry, your little friends are still alive … for now. Can’t rush the fun." With that, Angelus stripped off her jeans, baring her body to the room. Her shirt hung open, revealing all since he had ripped the bra from her the night before.

He stayed behind her where she couldn’t see, only hear and feel. Somehow that was worse because the imagination is so much more colorful than what you can see. She heard the sound of his belt being opened and his zipper being lowered. He wasn’t touching her and was going very slowly, building up her nervousness.

"You’re sick, Angel. I would have loved you and made love with you forever, all you had to do was want me. You don’t need to do this, not like this." She hated the slight sound of desperation in her voice as she tried to keep herself from begging Angel not to rape her again.

"Yes, I really do, Buffy." Angelus brought his belt down, hard on her bare buttocks leaving a cruel welt in its wake. He chuckled as Buffy gasped in pain and shock. Even at her most rebellious stage, Hank had never taken a belt to her.

Angelus was making up for all the corporeal punishment Buffy had yet to experience, the belt flying over her skin, leaving a pattern of red welts and blood. Dru had come to observe and Buffy noted a look of sick jealousy on the mad vampiress’ face. Surely Dru didn’t want this sort of treatment for herself, Buffy thought.

Anglus seemed to notice Dru at about the same time. "Dru! Come to watch, have you? Look at all the pretty red blood. Want some?" Angelus took a finger and collected some of Buffy’s blood on it, then approached the vampiress. He lifted his finger to Dru’s lips and she suckled it, moaning in ecstasy at the taste. "If you’re a good girl and promise no biting, I’ll let you join in with a fondle while I fuck her."

Dru nodded enthusiastically and moved toward Buffy. She raked her long nails down Buffy’s left breast and looked to Angelus, "Not even a lick?"

"Well, all right. You can lick, but no fangs, not yet." Angelus moved back behind Buffy and grasped her hips, pulling her in position for his entry. Buffy screamed as Angelus ripped into her dry channel.

~~~

"What do you think you’re doing?" Spike grabbed the Watcher’s arm as he started to rush towards Buffy’s screams. Giles had come with Spike to the mansion for proof of the vampire’s tale. They had seen several of the minions leave and Spike told Giles that meant that Angelus and Dru had returned.

"You’ll only get yourself killed if you go blundering in there now. Need a plan. ‘Sides, the minions won’t have gone far. I think a couple are still in there."

"He’s torturing her. I can’t be expected to just wait about out here while that monster is harming her!" Giles was aghast at the thought of what must be happening to his Slayer in that house of horrors.

"Can’t help her if you’re dead either," Spike reminded him.

The Slayer’s mother had been protected with a disinvite spell that Jenny had performed at Giles’ request. Giles had made certain that Spike was on the porch and the disinvite included him as well.

Willow had come over, crying, with a sketch Angelus had left on her bed. A sketch of Willow sleeping peacefully, two holes in her neck. The fact that Angelus had been able to get into Willow’s room led Joyce to suggest the girl stay there at the Summers’ house until daylight. Willow’s parents were not in town and the girl would be safe there until the disinvite spell could be done on her home as well.


It looked as though the sketch had not been the only bit of whimsy on the part of Angelus. Willow’s beloved tank of fish had fallen victim as well, the fish skewered onto a thread and left for her to find with the sketch. The girl kept talking about being so glad her parents had forbidden her the puppy she’d actually wanted.

Joyce channeled her nurturing impulses into making Willow as comforted and comfortable as possible while Giles went with Spike to see where Buffy was being held.

Giles was heartily glad Mrs. Summers had been preoccupied and had not insisted in joining him on this mission. Buffy’s screams had nearly undone him; the likely reaction of her mother was something Giles didn’t wish to contemplate. Spike was right—he couldn’t go blustering in there right now.

Spike had a good idea of just what Angelus was doing to the Slayer. He had done much the same the night before. Spike had smelled the sex and blood while Angelus raped the girl that loved him without mercy. Spike knew from the years of watching Angelus at work that he would be upping the ante soon. Angelus bored easily with his games. Things would only get worse for the Slayer. Good thing the Watcher listened to him instead of staking him earlier. The girl might just survive now.