A/N: Thanks to my wonderful beta, Eowyn315!!!! :)



Spike was not even aware that he had blacked out at all, until he found himself regaining consciousness.

An involuntary groan left his lips as he raised his head, squinting against the warm candlelight that filled the room. As his eyes adjusted, he looked around to see that he was lying on a bed in an unfamiliar bedroom, where he was apparently alone. He tried to rise from the bed, only to have his efforts abruptly halted as he realized that his wrists were chained tightly to the headboard above his head, preventing him from gaining the leverage he needed to sit up.

A slight rustling sound to his left drew his attention immediately, but when he looked sharply to the side, he could see no one.

“Buffy?” he called out in an instinctive reaction, though he really did not expect her to respond. Then, after a moment, he tried again, more cautiously, “Willow?”

A low, wicked giggle rang out in the darkened room, before the redheaded witch slowly materialized in the spot from which he had heard the sound. “Got it in two,” she observed with a sly smile. “Not quite as stupid as you look, are you?”

Spike ignored the rather unoriginal jibe, testing the strength of the chains at his wrists as he watched her calm, confident approach.

“All right, then, love. What’s this about?”

“Impatient,” Willow remarked with a teasing wink as she reached the side of the bed, extending a slender hand to stroke suggestively up his side. “Just wait. We’ll get to that.”

All at once, Spike realized that his shirt had been removed, and he was naked from the waist up. At any other time, that would not have bothered him; in this situation, however, it made him feel intensely vulnerable. He jerked reflexively away from her warm, soft hand, trying to evade her far too familiar touch.

The eyes of the young vampiress darkened, at the same time filling with golden sparks of fury, and Spike thought that the combination of the evils of her vampiric and magical natures was one of the most terrifying things he had ever seen. However, he carefully schooled his features into a mask of unconcern, glaring defiantly up at her as her stance straightened with menace and she gave him a look of seething fury.

“You know, if you really want to resist me, Spike,” she pointed out in a deadly soft voice, “I can find another way to make sure that you don’t move.”

Despite his attempt at concealing his fear, Spike went perfectly still at those words, unwilling to allow himself to be brought any further under her control than he already was. His teeth clenched with anger and frustration as she repeated the gesture, running her hand down his side, its path ending at the line of his low-riding jeans.

Willow smiled as she trailed her fingertips playfully along the waistband, giving him a speculative look, noting his tense, defiant countenance.

“You know,” she reminded him casually. “I had to put my old puppy down. He…got to be a little much to handle. Didn’t know how to behave.”

Spike felt a chill go through him, even before she leaned in close to whisper against his ear, “Think I could teach you to be a good puppy, Spike?”

He was quiet for a moment, before his lips turned upward in a smirk and he replied, his voice low and subtly taunting, “If anyone could teach a puppy how to behave, love…it’d be a mother bitch like you.”

Willow drew back with a gasp, startled by his words, her eyes wide and stunned…and then narrowing to furious black slits, as the air around her seemed to thicken, darkening, crackling with sparks of ominous energy.

Spike barely had an instant to attempt to prepare himself for the punishment he knew was coming – before her face, the room around them, and his own following screams of agony were swallowed up in a blinding, searing sea of pain.

*********************************

Buffy sat on the floor of Giles’ living room, cross-legged in front of his open weapons chest, surrounded by various implements of warfare. She lifted a short-handled battle axe in her hand, testing its weight and its swing as best she could from her seated position. She swallowed back the sick feeling in her throat as the unbidden mental image came to her of using that weapon to sever her former friend’s head from her body.

Buffy blinked back tears, setting the axe aside and muttering to herself, “Too bulky. Something…something smaller…*faster*…”

She took out a wooden stake, turning it in her hand, trying to take comfort in the familiar shape, trying to make this whole thing feel…*right*.

But…she was trying to select a weapon to use to take Willow’s life, in order to save the world – and Spike – from her destructive power.

Nothing about this was right.

She swallowed hard as her fingers ran over the rough wood, and a frown creased her brow. Her tears flowed more freely, until the stake blurred before her eyes, and she fought back a sob.

The thought of its jagged, rough edge, plunging into the flesh of her friend…

Buffy tossed the stake down with the axe, raising her hands to press the heels of them against her eyes, taking several deep, shaky breaths in an attempt to maintain her composure. She couldn’t let her emotions get the better of her, not in this situation – not yet. If she did, she would surely lose the battle…and everyone she loved would be lost to the evil that had already consumed her former best friend. No, she had to keep it together for now.

There would be time to fall apart *after* she reduced her beloved friend to ashes.

Clearing her throat, Buffy rose to her feet, wiping her hands on her jeans, though she didn’t really know what she thought she was rubbing off them. She just knew that her hands felt dirty after handling the weapons that would bring about Willow’s destruction. Sniffling, swiping at the remaining tears that stained her face, Buffy headed for the front door, eager to get her mind off the impending task at hand.

She stepped out onto the porch, silent so as not to disturb Giles and Miss Calendar, who were still in the midst of performing the protection spell. She just stood there for a few moments, leaning in the doorway, watching them solemnly as she waited with barely suppressed impatience for them to finish.

She knew full well that it made no sense for her to go out searching for Spike and Willow, and possibly would waste a lot of valuable time searching in the wrong places, when she could just wait a few minutes and allow her Watcher to work the location spell that would take her right to them.

Still…the waiting was killing her.

After what felt like an eternity, Giles and Miss Calendar stopped their quiet chanting and rose slowly from their seated positions on the porch. Giles gave Buffy a surprised smile as he turned to walk back into the house.

“Buffy. Are you ready?”

“No. Let’s do this,” the Slayer replied flatly.

Her Watcher regarded her for a few moments, a sorrowful sympathy beginning in his eyes. “Yes, of course,” he replied gently. “Let’s just…go inside, gather the appropriate supplies, and we’ll perform the location spell. But…Buffy…”

“What?” Buffy snapped, out of impatience rather than genuine anger.

“Are you sure it’s wise to go after Willow *now*, before we have a clear understanding of her power…her…her motives?” Giles asked her, a hesitant warning in his voice.

“No, I’m not,” Buffy conceded with a sigh. “But…we don’t have time to wait. While we’re sitting around researching, who knows what she’s doing to Spike in the meantime? She could kill him…”

“Buffy…she could have already,” Giles pointed out, his voice gentle and compassionate, despite the harsh honesty of his words.

“But I’ll never know that, will I?” Buffy retorted, her voice quiet and trembling. “Not if I don’t at least try.” She paused before adding, “And besides…I think we have a better chance of stopping her if we act sooner rather than later. She’ll just get more powerful the longer we wait, right?”

“That’s…that’s likely, yes,” Giles admitted with a sideways nod.

“Then I’m going after her. How long will this spell take?”

“Ten or fifteen minutes,” Miss Calendar shrugged. “Not long.”

“Right,” Buffy nodded her grim satisfaction. “I’ll go get some weapons.”

“Buffy,” the Watcher tried to call her back…but she had already disappeared into the house, closing the door forcefully behind her.

**************************************

Spike’s body shook with agony, as the witch stood at the side of the bed, her chest heaving with unnecessary breath, a residual human reaction to her exhaustion. She had unleashed her fury on the helpless vampire, venting her rage in an awe-inspiring display of vicious power that had left him trembling and barely conscious with pain, and her leaning one hand against the headboard for support, wearied by her efforts.

“Look at you,” she sneered, though her voice was breathless and trembling slightly. “What a total and complete *waste* you are! You got that chip out of your head, so you could have fought her, could have been what you were supposed to be, but you’re *nothing*! Nothing but the Slayer’s little lap dog, instead of the master vampire you could have been! Sniveling and begging at her feet to help her, when your fangs should have been drenched with her blood!”

Spike did not respond, barely able to draw the breath to speak through his painfully broken ribs.

Willow considered for a moment, her breath slowing and becoming more even as she recovered, before she spoke again slowly, thoughtfully. “Must have been some interesting visions you saw – quite a future we had ahead of us – to make you side with the Slayer – make you willing to go through so much, to prevent it. Must have been…terrible…”

Her voice trailed off as a pensive frown creased her brow, and she removed her hand from the headboard, leaning in closer to the damaged vampire on the bed, who was shuddering, nearly convulsing with pain.

“Relax,” she murmured with false gentleness, her lips turning up in a hint of a wicked smile. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I just wanna…take a little tour…”

Spike was powerless to resist her as she brushed the back of her hand across his damp brow, her eyes closed as she sought out the future memories that filled his mind, drawing painful images to the surface against his will. Spike’s body jerked against its bonds, and he let out a piteous moan, as dark scenes from the future he had seen surrounded him again.

Willow’s smile widened as she gasped with pleased surprise at what she saw, oblivious to the bound vampire’s frantic attempts to break contact, to end the torment in his mind. Finally, her eyes opened again, black as midnight, and she withdrew her hand, leaving Spike quivering and gasping for breath, his body drawn in on itself as much as was possible with his wrists bound above his head as they were.

Willow looked down at him in speculative surprise, her lips twisting into a cruel smirk.

“You were in love with her, you fool!” She spat the words at him in disgust. “I thought it had to be a terrible future for vampires – or at least for us – if you were so set on keeping it from happening. Turns out it was just terrible for *her*! Looks like *I* was having a lot of fun!”

She was quiet for a moment, as Spike struggled to regain his breath, a weak smile rising to his lips as he turned his head with an effort and met her eyes in cold triumph. He whispered words in response that she had to lean forward to hear.

“Too bad…it’ll never…happen now.”

Willow’s smile widened as she shrugged and remarked in a soft, dangerous tone of voice, “Who says? You and me together, baby…we can *make* it happen!”

Spike tried to pull away, but there was no escape, as she placed her hands on either side of his head, closing her eyes again and focusing on the dark magicks within her...on bringing to pass things that had been meant to be, things which now existed only in the recesses of Spike’s mind.

And in moments, the vampire on the bed was screaming again.

*****************************

As Buffy turned and walked back into the house, her stride deliberate and purposeful, Giles watched her, his brow furrowed with concern. It caught him a bit off guard when Jenny’s soft, small hand slipped into his, squeezing gently. He turned to give her a slightly distracted, sad smile.

“She’s strong, Rupert. She’s gonna make it.”

“I only wish I could be sure of that,” he murmured, his gaze still fastened on the empty spot where his Slayer had just stood. After a moment he shook his head, shaking himself out of his reverie. “Well, we’d best get our supplies together and begin…”

“Rupert!”

Giles turned again at the alarm in Jenny’s voice, and his eyes widened as he followed her gaze.

Each of them had been so caught up in their own worries about the situation, that neither had noticed the strange storm that now seemed to have arisen around them. The sky behind them was dark and heavy with ominous clouds, pierced intermittently with bolts of eerie, colorful lightning.

Giles frowned. “Bloody…”

“What is it?” Jenny asked in a hushed, fearful whisper, staring up at the storm which was quite obviously so much more. “Willow?”

Giles shook his head, at a loss. “I’m not sure…” His frown deepened as something occurred to him. “There’s no thunder. There’s lightning, but…no thunder. It’s…it’s…”

“…unnatural,” Jenny finished for him in a troubled whisper.

Before either of them could act, the Watcher’s pensive musings were suddenly scattered by a thunderous crack that seemed to split the sky, deafening them and sending them stumbling backwards in shock. A moment later, the earth beneath their feet began to shake, throwing both of them off balance, to their knees on the porch, clinging to the railing for support.

The dark clouds became a vortex of swirling blackness around them, accompanied by a wailing, deafening wind that consumed them, separated them, becoming all they could see or hear or be aware of at all. Then, in an instant, everything went black around them as they both collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.

And when they awakened…the world had changed.