The Key

Giles had went back to Buffy's house. He had caused the death of an innocent girl. He didn't know that she would have to die. If he would have he would have tried to keep her away. Inside the house all of the lights were off. "Andrew are you here?" Giles asked. He knew when he and Anya had left the house that Andrew had been down in the basement hiding. But now Andrew had disappeared. Giles collected his belongings and left. He was heading back to England where he will try and piece his life back together. He went out the back door. Andrew was out back. Andrew had been waiting on someone to come back. He hit Giles on the head knocking him out.

When Giles woke up Andrew had drawn a circle around him and was chanting some words. Giles knew exactly what the words meant. Giles looked around. He was in the basement of the school. Andrew was opening the Hell mouth. "Stop this right now Andrew," he said forcefully. He noticed something not right about Andrew. Andrew turned and looked at Giles. "Just in time," he said. He reached out and pulled Giles into the circle. "My sacrificial blood," he said pulling out a knife. Giles fought him with no luck. Whatever demon had ahold of Andrew it was stronger than Giles. It stabbed Giles in the stomach and held him high. Giles felt his life slipping away from him. The earth opened up. He threw Giles down to the side. "No I will not do this," Andrew said. He was fighting the demon inside of him. "Giles help me," he said. "I can't," Giles said as he died. The seal on the Hell mouth broke open. He ran out of the basement before finishing the ritual. He still had Giles' blood on his hands. He ran all the way back to his room at Buffy's.

Buffy went into her home. She saw that Giles had up and left. Which was probably good for everyone anyway. Everyone headed to bed. It had been a long night and everyone needed to rest. Buffy looked at the hole in the wall between the kitchen and the living room. "I don't even want to know. Please just fix it tomorrow," she told Xander. She was just too tired to care.

When Layla woke up Spike was not in bed. She was disappointed. She wanted Spike to be there. She got up but her legs were not strong enough yet. She ended up flat on her butt. "Ouch," she said. Spike came running in the room. "Olivia," he said as he ran over to her. He helped her back up onto the bed. "I haven't got the use of my legs yet," she said smiling at Spike. He smiled back at her. "That's okay. You have me for legs," he said. He put his hand on her cheek. "Why did you do what you did last night?" he asked. "It hurt me to know that I was going to die Spike. I hated leaving you. But it was more important that I killed those demons. I didn't want them killing anymore innocent people," she said. "The only important thing now is that I am here and I don't plan on going anywhere for a very long time," she added. She sniffed the air. "Is something burning?" she asked. "Oh buggers," he said running into the kitchen. Moments later he came back with a tray of food for Layla. "I was making you something to eat. You need strength," he said putting the tray down in front of her. She looked at everything. He had fixed her breakfast including burnt toast. "Thank you," she said as she went to scarfing the food down. She was hungry. Spike sat down beside her and watched her eat. He was relieved that she was still with him. He didn't feel cold and lonely with her around.

After she had finished eating he had disappeared into the bathroom. "Okay luv. Time to wash off the dirt," he said. He scooped her up in his arms. She held onto him as he took her onto the bathroom and sat her on the toilet. She saw he had run her a bubble bath. He leaned down and took her shirt off. "I feel like a queen," she said smiling. "You are. You are my queen," he mentioned as he removed her bra. He had to bite his lip to keep from sucking on her ample breasts. She stood up and he removed her underwear. Then he scooped her back up and laid her into the tub. She gave him a frown. "It's awfully lonely in here," she said. He took that as an invitation. He pulled off his clothes and hopped in the tub with her some of the water spilling over onto the floor. Layla leaned into Spike as he washed her body. He dipped his hand between her legs. He felt the warmth there. Not missing any crevice of her body. She let him have control over her body. He ran the wash cloth up over her stomach and around her breasts. There he lingered. "So that is the dirtiest spot on my body huh?" she asked him. "To me? Yeah," he said. His hands trailed up the sides of her body. He massaged the back of her neck. "That feels good," she said closing her eyes. She felt his erection on her back. He picked her body up and slowly slid inside of her. 'This is new,' she thought. 'Stick with me and I will show you all kinds of things' he thought back. Once completely inside he began pumping in and out. One of his hands went to her breast while the other played with the sensitive spot between her legs. She bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out. The water in the tub was sloshing over the sides. She felt her stomach clenching signaling an orgasm soon. Spike vamped and bit into Layla's neck. "Ahhhh," she cried out. He smiled as he licked her blood. He loved making her scream. Layla gripped the side of the tub as Spike pumped faster. Spike felt Layla's muscles tightening. "Oh yes baby," he yelled as he spilled his seed inside of Layla. Layla exhaled as she came down. Spike lovingly kissed her neck as she laid back into him. "I love you," he told her. She smiled. "I love you too William," she said. When she called him by his real name it made his stomach clench. Layla shivered. Spike realized the water had gotten cold. "Come on, luv. Let's get you out of this before you catch a cold," he said. He managed to pick Layla up and get them both out of the tub. He stood her on the floor, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around Layla. He looked into her face. Her eyes seemed to be smiling at him. Spike took Layla's face into his hands and gently kissed each eyelid. "What was that for?" she asked. "For you being you," he said. "You know for a vampire you can be such a softie," she told him. He dried her off. "You bring out the best in me," he said. That little lovemaking session returned the strength back in Layla. She walked back into the bedroom and began picking out some clothes to wear. Spike plopped down on the bed naked. "What cha doin luv?" he asked. She looked at him and wished at this moment she had a painting of him just like he was. "I am getting ready for patrol tonight," she said. Spike panicked. He jumped off the bed and went over to her. "Uh uh. You will not be going on patrol tonight," he said taking the clothes out of her hands and throwing them on the floor. "What? Why not?" she asked. "Because I think you have just earned yourself some time off. What you did last night bought you a free ride from now on," he said. "I know but I have to. I want to be there for everyone," she said. "Okay fine. You can be there for everyone later. For now just be with me," he begged. She saw the desperation in his eyes. She saw fear in his eyes. She saw he was afraid of losing her again. He only wants to keep her safe. She agreed. She dropped her towel. "Tonight I am all yours," she said. He raised his eyebrows. "All mine," he agreed.

Buffy was awakened by hammering downstairs. She rolled over in bed and put her pillow over her head. She could ignore the sound but she couldn't ignore the feeling she was getting. Something was nagging at her and she had no idea what it was. She decided to get up out of bed. With a huff she threw the covers off and got out of bed, getting dressed. Downstairs Xander was fixing the hole in the wall. He looked up. "I am sorry if I woke you," he said. She waved her hand. "Nah. Just had to get up," she said going into the kitchen. Coffee had been made and pots were laying all over the counter. "What happened in here?" she asked. "Anya and Dawn wanted to have a meal. They wanted to celebrate the death of the wake demons," Xander said from the other room. He went back to hammering. 'They could have at least saved me something,' Buffy thought as she went to cleaning up the mess. She looked out the window. The sun was just setting. It was back to work for her. She sighed as she washed another plate. 'Life as usual,' she thought.

Buffy went to take the trash out the back when she tripped and fell over a bag. "What?" she said. She picked it up and took it inside. It was the bag Giles had used to move into her place. If he left he would have taken his stuff. She took the bag into the living room. "MEETING," she yelled out. Everyone that was in the house came into the living room. Anya and Xander sat on the couch. Willow stood in the doorway. Dawn sat on the stairs and Andrew stood in the basement doorway. He saw the bag and started fidgeting. "Does anyone know what has happened to Giles? Did he tell anyone he was leaving?" Buffy said. "No but I am glad he is gone. After what he put Layla through," Willow said. "Yes I agree with you Willow but what if he hasn't left. What if he was kidnapped," Buffy said. "What would make you think that?" Dawn asked. Buffy motioned to the bag. "This is his. It was laying outside by the back door. He wouldn't have packed it just to leave it out there," she said. "He would have if he was in a hurry," Xander said. "I think something has happened to him," Buffy said. "Why?" Willow asked. "Call it a gut feeling or slayers intuition but this just doesn't seem right," she said. "Okay. We will just keep an eye out for him while we patrol tonight," Willow said heading for the kitchen. She always thought Giles was one of the good guys until he confessed to knowing about Layla not being Layla. She really could care less of something has caught him. She just hopes whatever it is makes him suffer. She left out the back way to go patrolling.

Buffy sat on the couch. Everyone had left except her and Andrew. He had run back and hidden in the basement. "Andrew can you came here for a minute please?" she asked. Andrew cautiously came in the room. "Yeah," he said. "I saw the way you looked at the bag and you were the only one here when Giles had returned. Do you know something that I should know?" she said. He closed his eyes. He didn't want her to see how scared he was. "No," he said retreating back to the basement. Buffy sat there. She didn't even know why she kept him around. He never pulls his own weight. She gave up and went out patrolling hoping Layla was doing better than she was.

Layla was laying in bed beside Spike. Both of them were breathing heavily. He held his hand over her heart, feeling her heartbeat return to normal. "I love this. No responsibilities, no problems, no danger," Layla said. And it was true. When she was with Spike she felt safe. She knew he would kill anything that came near her. Spike took her hand in his. "This is the way our lives were meant to be," he said. "How can you be sure?" she asked. He sat up on one elbow. "Because, luv, it is written in the stars," he said. She leaned up and kissed Spike. A scream tore through the apartment. Spike looked around. He then jumped up and was getting dressed. Layla jumped up behind him. "No stay here," he said. She didn't listen. She continued getting dressed as he ran out of the apartment. The scream came again. It sounded to Layla like someone was being killed. She ran out in the hallway and found Spike listening. He saw her. "Didn't I tell you to stay in the apartment?" he said. "Since when have I listened to you," she replied. The scream was being muffled this time. Spike ran down the stairs and out the building. 'Stay close,' he told Layla. They ran down the street. Under a street light a girl was being held down by two people while a third one stood over her with its hands over her eyes and mouth. All of them were wearing robes with the hoods pulled over their heads. Layla got a really bad feeling from these guys. "Release the girl," Spike said to the robed people. All three of them looked at Layla and Spike. Layla gasped. They had no eyes. They dropped the girl and ran. Layla went up to the girl while Spike chased after the three. "Are you alright?" Layla asked the girl. The girl wasn't responding. Layla felt for a pulse. The girl was dead. "I'm sorry," she told the girl. She touched the girls face hoping to get a vision from the robed creatures that killed her. Layla couldn't pull her hands away. Spike came back. "I lost them," he said out of breath. He looked at Layla. She was touching the girl not moving, her eyes wide like she was watching something. "What are you seeing?" he asked still getting no response. "Olivia? What is it?" he asked growing more worried. He reached down and pulled her hands off of the girl. She fell on her butt and backed away from the girl and Spike. There she sat on the ground shaking. Spike went to touch her. "Don't touch me," she said jerking away from Spike. "Olivia?" he said sounding hurt. Layla balled up her fists and put them on her head. Her breathing was heavy and ragged. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH. GET OUT," she screamed. A tiny ball of black light popped out of her head and exploded as it tried to get away. Layla collapsed to the ground. Spike knelt beside Layla, afraid to touch her. She felt him near her and reached out to him taking his hand. "It's okay now," she said. He helped her to sit up. "Are you sure?" he asked. She shook her head. "Those creatures were trying to possess her. They were trying to put that thing into her but she died before it could take hold of her," Layla said. "And when you touched it that thing must have transferred to you," he said. She looked up at him. "I am sorry I yelled at you not to touch me. I was afraid that thing would get ahold of you. I knew I could get rid of it but I didn't want you to get it in you," she said. He hugged her. "That is okay. I am just glad that you are okay," he said. He knew one thing for sure he wasn't going to let her touch anything else those creatures could have touched. Layla stood up. "From what I saw she was on her way to find Buffy. She was a potential slayer," Layla said. "Why would she want to see Buffy?" he asked. "I don't know. I didn't get much before that thing transferred into me," Layla said. Spike took her hand. "So much for a quiet night at home. Let's see what Buffy knows," he said leading the way to Buffy's.