Brave New World

"So when the sun comes up, you can take the van and go," Buffy said to Giles. "Tell 'em you escaped and hid for the night or make up something. The less they know the better."
Giles sighed, "I have to say I feel very uneasy about this, but if you wish to proceed this way..."
"Look you have the easy part," she said. "Staying out of sight, it's only for another two weeks. Less actually. After that, well, either way, it won't matter anymore."
Giles suddenly covered his mouth as he let out a large yawn. "I'm terribly sorry-"
"No," Buffy countered, "That's okay. Look, I need to take a shower. Vampire blood and dust is pretty much a big ick factor here. Why don't you take a nap?"
"Actually, a hot shower sounds quite refreshing," Giles replied looking down at the dried blood on the front of his shirt. "Though I suppose it really doesn't matter as I have nothing to change into."
Buffy chuckle as she got up, "Relax Jeeves. Spike is a little shorter but I think I can dig up a pair of sweats that will..." she trailed off as Giles rose and she realized just how much taller than Spike he actually was. "...probably look pretty silly on you."
Giles smiled, "It's all right. The shower will help clean off the worst of it."
"Great. You can use Spike's," said Buffy.
"Fabulous," said Giles while inside he was thinking this was just one more bizarre experience for him from living on the Hellmouth. *Using a vampire's shower. Good lord, what's next?*
As Buffy led Giles from the kitchen, she glanced at the alarm system but decide to leave it turned off since she did not know when Spike would be back. *Anyway,* she thought, *Who is dumb enough to go breaking into homes in *this* town?*

"OK. Is everyone clear then?" Wesley addressed the disgruntled group of people. Oz and Jenny had finally managed to convince everyone that a smaller assault force of a dozen would be better than sending all of the adults and leaving no one to watch the children. Additionally, it had been agreed that only Oz and Mitch would accompany the Slayer and her Watcher into the house. The remaining eight would surround the house and watch the doors, in case any vampires attempted to flee and summon help.
When no one said anything he continued, "Alright then. Let us 'saddle up' then. Shall we?" He tried to put on an air of confidence, as he in reality quite nervous. He would normally have let Kendra go in on her own and deal with the threat. However, he knew that if he didn't go with them, in all likelihood one of these boys would get in the way, and then Kendra could get into trouble.
They piled into three cars and proceed with Oz leading the convoy. Twenty minutes later he pulled up in front of the gate of the estate wherein Giles was held captive.
After a quick check to make sure it wasn't electrified, Kendra bent the bars on the gate, allowing everyone entry onto the estate. Moving quickly, she ignored the front door, choosing instead to lead Oz, Mitch and Wesley around the back of the house. A light from a crack in the shutters revealed an empty kitchen. Kendra moved to the door, grasped the handle and snapped the lock. Easing the door open she stepped carefully into the house.

Buffy had just pulled on a new turtleneck, when she caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye. Instinctive reflexes took over and she flipped herself backwards as the dark figured rushed towards her, the sight of a stake in its hand the only clear image to impress itself on her mind. As the figure closed to grapple with her, Buffy lashed out with her foot and kicked the attacker across the bedroom.
The intruder quickly stood up and whipped out another stake. Buffy moved into a defensive fighting stance and froze as she got her first clear look at the attacker. It was a girl. A girl whom she had seen in several of her dreams lately. *Shit!* A girl with a stake. *The new Slayer,* she realized, and a cold shudder passed through her. It was like looking at her own gravestone. Buffy had known that a new Slayer had been called. But, to have her here, to look in her eye, was wholly unnerving.
Kendra moved to attack, again. Jab, jab, punch, thrust, block, kick, stab. Kendra struck with a controlled precision of years of martial arts training. Training impressed upon her ever since she had been found to be a potential slayer and taken from her family. What was beginning to worry Kendra, however, was that the vampire had yet to make an attack, while at the same time, she had easily deflected each attack that Kendra had made.
Buffy leapt across the room, trying to maneuver herself to get to the door so she could escape. Had she wanted to, she could have easily killed this girl. But she didn't want to, and she doubted that the new Slayer would listen to her. She had to get to Giles and hope that he could get rid of her. Buffy sensed another presence in the doorway and caught the sight of two men with crossbows aimed at her. *Fuck!*
Oz and Mitch fired at the blonde vampire and were stunned to see her flex and dodge the bolts. They switched to holy water filled super-soakers as Kendra closed to engage in another series of fast and hard, kicks and punches, which Buffy managed to either deflect or dodge. Realizing what was probably in the two squirt gun toys that were being pointed at her, Buffy dodged Kendra's latest attack, and leaped across the room. She bent, grabbed her mattress, and charged back across the room with it to block the new intruder's from spraying her with Holy Water. Oz and Mitch backed-up as the mattress shielded vampiress charged at them with a yell, forcing them out into the hallway.
The mattress was too large to fit through the doorframe as a shield, so Buffy tossed it aside at the last second and slammed the door shut, locking herself in the room with the Slayer.
Kendra took advantage of Buffy's distraction to attack Buffy from behind. This vampiress was a lot tougher than she looked and Kendra knew she needed to take her out fast. She high-kicked Buffy in her head to stun her, and then grabbed Buffy's arm in order to swing her around and slam her head into the wall. Except it didn't happen that way. One minute Kendra was spinning the vamp into the wall, and the next, the vampire had used the momentum to run up the wall, flip over Kendra, and grab her from behind with one arm around her neck while the other twisted Kendra's right arm behind her back.
"Look, I really don't want to hurt you-," Buffy started to say when she was cut off by the sound of the bedroom door being kicked in. The two men with the squirt guns charged in.
"Stop or she's dead!" she yelled, praying that they would hesitate for long enough to give her time to figure a way out of this mess without hurting anyone. The two men froze in uncertainty.
"Do it!" yelled Kendra, before Buffy tightened her grasp on her throat.
"Shut up!" Buffy yelled backing towards the bathroom while keeping Kendra between her and the two men with Holy Water super-soakers. A gasp from the doorway made her glance up and freeze in surprise. "Wesley?!"
ear ear lord, Buffy!" he gasped in horror at the realization of who and what she was. He held a crossbow, and after recovering from his shock, steadied it and concentrated on aiming at her. "Release her, and we might let you live," he said in a firm, authoritative voice.
Buffy let out a short, almost hysterical laugh and continued her edging towards the bathroom. "Oh Wes, you're so manly. It just sets me all a quiver when you threaten me that way," she said mockingly. Then in a murmur that only Kendra heard, she said, "God girl, you really got the short end of the stick for a Watcher." There were too many variables here for her to control the situation. At any second all hell was gonna break loose, and she needed to be ready.
Oz was focusing intently on the blonde vampiress. He knew how terribly fast she could be, and he was worried about her killing the Slayer before they could stop her. In the periphery of his sight, he saw the Slayer slowly reaching into her pocket with her free left hand and drawing out a chain with a cross on it.

Giles had been really enjoying his shower. The hot water had relaxed the knotted muscles in his back and he had simply just stood there for several minutes enjoying the sensation of the warm water pounding on his shoulders and back. Carefully, he washed the blood and dirt from his battered body, being especially mindful not to disturb the bandage on his throat. Some of the other wounds that Buffy had bandaged were again exposed, but he kept that one covered, as it was still extremely tender and painful.
He heard a crash.
Quickly, he turned the water off, and he strained to listen to what was happening elsewhere in the house.
He heard another crash and what sounded like fighting. Alarmed, he jumped out of the shower, grabbed a towel, and quickly wrapped it around his waist. Rapidly he moved from the bathroom, across the master bedroom to the door. Weapons of all types lined the wall of the room, and he snatched up a crossbow and loaded it before opening the door.
Holding the crossbow in front him with his right hand he slowly stepped out into the hall snagging a staff with his left hand before leaving the room. The fighting seemed to have stopped and he could hear the murmuring of voices. As he moved closer, he could see the back of a tall man just inside the door of Buffy's room. The man's arms were raised, and Giles realized he was holding a crossbow on someone in the room. *Buffy!* he thought in alarm. *Something must have happened to Spike, the the Master sent some more vamps to get Buffy.*
Carefully, so as not to alert them as to his presence, he eased forward and took aim at the intruding vampire's back.
Just as he was about to squeeze the trigger, a voice from inside the room caused Giles to freeze in surprise.
"It's your call, Wesley."
*Oz!*
Suddenly he realized that this was a rescue party, and that they were attacking Buffy in the mistaken belief that she was holding him prisoner.
"Stop!" he shouted out, dropping the crossbow and charging towards the room.
Several things happened at once. Wesley spun with a small shriek and fired his crossbow at Giles, before stumbling backwards in an attempt to get away and falling down. Seeing Wesley turn towards him with the weapon, Giles had flung himself to the side to avoid the crossbow bolt. Mitch and Oz, startled by Wesley's cry, fired their holy water at Buffy and Kendra. Kendra slapped the cross she had just dug from her pocket against the hand around her throat. With a growl of pain and frustration, Buffy threw Kendra away from her and towards Oz and Mitch. She then dove into the bathroom to escape the holy water, slammed the door shut and locked it.
An extremely angry Kendra leapt up from the pile on the floor where she had crashed into the two boys, sned ued up a nearby crossbow bolt that had fallen to the floor, and spun to check where the most urgent threat was. Since the female had fled into the bathroom, Kendra looked towards the hallway where Wesley was now facing.
"For god's sake, stop! Wait. Hold on. You don't know what you're doing," a frantic voice cried out from the hallway. Kendra began to move quickly to face the threat when she was brought up short by the sight in front of her.
"Giles?" Mitch asked as he and Oz rolled to their feet, super-soakers at the ready, and moved to see a wet and naked Giles standing just outside the door.
Giles, oblivious to the fact that his towel had slipped off while he dodged Wesley's shot, stood there with his hands out stretched, pleading for everyone to calm down for a moment. When everybody had apparently stopped, he relaxed enough to notice that everyone was staring at him; Oz with a surprised arched eyebrow, Mitch with a smirk, the other man with a shocked expression and the dark skinned girl with wide eyes and a blush, although she didn't changed from her fighting stance.
"Uh, Giles," Oz said with a nod and a glance downwards and then back up. Giles looked down, realized what was wrong and whirled about to grab his fallen towel from the floor and wrap it around his waist, again. When he turned back his face was flushed red with embarrassment. "Well, that's one way to tell he hasn't been turned," Oz commented dryly.
Inside the bathroom, Buffy sighed in relief. She had been worried that she was going to have to hurt someone if they had come after her in the bathroom. She grimaced as she looked at the burn on her hand that she had received from the crucifix.
"Oz. Mitch," Giles nodded at the two teenagers. "It's good to see you're both alright. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but you have to get out of here. Everybody, please, leave now," he implored.
"Mr. Giles?" said Wesley as he stood up. "What is going on?"
"Yeah, Giles. Not that we aren't glad to see you, but..." began Mitch.
"...why are you running around *free* in a vampire's home?" Oz finished.
"I promise, I will explain later, but now is not the time or place," Giles said urgently.
"No, I think this is the place for it," Wesley said. "Why don't you want us to slay this vampire?"
"Because..." Giles paused as he collected his thoughts. He sighed, "Because killing the mate of the vampire who saved my life is not the 'Thank You' I think he's looking for."
"Why would dis vampire want to save you?" asked Kendra sharply.
Thinking fast Giles said, "Well apparently, Spike likes what we are doing to upset the Master, and while he couldn't care less about my life, as the leader of the resistance here in Sunnydale, I am a powerful symbol of the Master's incompetence. The longer I live, the more ammunition Spike has to challenge him at some upcoming ceremony."
"That doesn't explain why we shouldn't kill that vampire," Wesley exclaimed while pointing at the bathroom.
"Because I would much rather have Spike gunning for the Master instead of being angry at us for having killed his girlfriend," Giles said tersely.
"Besides which, what makes you think you can kill me?" asked Buffy casually from the bathroom doorway. "It's only because my Spike said 'No killing the humans' that you're all still alive." She let out a twisted little chuckle. "Of course, if you still want to stay, you can wait until Daddy gets home and says I can play." Swaying back and forth she kept her eyes on Kendra and smiled.
Kendra tightened her grip on the stake she was holding, "Should I stake her, Sir?"
Wesley looked as if he was about to say 'yes' but stopped as Giles stared him down. Giles' voice took on a firmer tone, "I must insist everyone leave now. Oz, Mitch. It is vitally important that you believe me and leave right now. Take these two with you. I will be out as soon as I retrieve my clothes from the bath."
Oz looked from Giles to Kendra to Buffy. Something was up. He alone had seen the vampiress, Buffy, in action earlier and he knew how deadly she could be. He had thought it was the surprise attack catching her off guard but now he realized that she had not fully engaged the Slayer. If she had fought the way she had earlier with the other vampires in the street, Oz suspected that they would all be dead right now. Finally, in defiance of all logic, the bandage on Giles neck indicated that the vampiress had taken care of Giles. He quickly came to a decision.
"Mitch, Wesley, Kendra," he said sharply. "Go outside and tell the others we will be out in a minute."
Kendra did not move. Mitch and Wesley looked at him in surprise.
"Now, please," Oz added.
"This is quite irregular," Wesley huffed in outrage. He turned towards Kendra, "Very well then, Kendra, let's go." He quickly walked out of the room past Giles. Kendra followed at a slower pace, never turning her back on Buffy. Mitch edged out the door, nodded at Giles and hastily moved after Kendra and Wesley.
Keeping the blonde vampiress in sight, Oz sidestepped slowly into the doorway next to Giles. "You know what you're doing, Giles?"
"Please trust me, Oz," Giles murmured.
Oz nodded and knelt to pick up one of the discarded crossbows, "I'll be waiting in the living room."
As Oz stepped out of sight down the hall, Giles looked at Buffy who was now slumped back against the wall holding her hand.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly.
"Oh yeah," she said in a tired voice. "Just peachy, Jeeves. You have no idea how much these burns hurt."
"Yes, well, I'm sorry about that-" Giles began to say but Buffy held up her hand.
"Look," she said. "I don't mean to be rude, but you should just get your clothes and get out of here. We don't want any more trouble like Spike showing up with the Slayer outside."
"Yes alright. I'll, um, just be a minute," Giles said before turning and heading back to get his clothes. Buffy moved to follow him to Spike's room. While Giles entered the bathroom to dress, Buffy sat on the bed in thought.
"It's funny you know," Buffy said softly. "All these months I've been a vamp, I knew another Slayer had been called...but to see her. She's not bad, you know. Got the strength and everything. Just needs time and experience." *But she's not going to get it,* Buffy thought as she recalled her dreams.
Giles emerged from the bathroom as he pulled on his shirt. He sat in a chair to pull on his socks and shoes.
"She's going to die if she stays here, you know," Buffy told him.
"What are you talking about?" asked Giles.
"Residual Slayer thing," Buffy told him. "I've seen her in a dream. I didn't know who it was. She was being tortured...dying. I think...I think that if she stays here, the Master will kill her."
"Alright, alright," Giles said. "Though I don't have the faintest idea how I'm going to explain it. I've been begging the council for three years to get a Slayer out here. The first one they sent is now a vampire, and the second I'm about to send packing after she has just arrived."
Another thought occurred to Buffy and she looked at Giles in alarm, "If he turns her, we'll have another Slayer-Vamp on our hands, and you don't have a spell to give her a soul. Please, get her out of Sunnydale."
"I'll do everything I can," Giles promised as he stood up to leave.
"Mr. Giles," Buffy said softly.
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"What for?"
"Stopping them. Believing me. My soul."
Giles smiled, "You’re welcome and thank you. For saving my life."
"No problem, Jeeves," said Buffy with a small grin. "Let's just stop getting captured, so I won't have to rescue you anymore. OK? Now, go home and let your wife know you’re okay. I've got a torn up room to fix before Spike gets back."
"Take care, Buffy, and good luck against the Master," Giles said before he turned and left. Wondering all the while how he was going to explain to the Slayer that she had to leave for her own safety.
As it turned out, he didn't even have to try.

"Has everyone on the Council gone insane?" shouted Giles. "We are in the middle of a *war* here and they want to play games with the life of-"
"Mr. Giles!" Wesley interrupted. "I realize that you are in a rather difficult situation here, but these are the Council's orders. Now, I have been assured that despite Kendra's relatively new status as a Slayer, this test should not be anything that she cannot handle. Additionally, the council has requested your presence at the ceremony-"
"Absolutely not!" yelled Giles indignantly. "There is no way that I will participate in this...monstrous event. It is cruel and unnecessary and I am stunned to find that in spite of all that is happening around us, they wish to perpetrate this dangerous farce of a test."
"The cruciamentum is hardly a farce. It is-" Wesley began again.
"An ancient ritual mandated by the Watchers Council in wherein the Slayer upon reaching her 18th Birthday is rendered powerless, and then pitted against a vampire," said Giles tiredly repeating in rote the history which had been ingrained upon him by years of training from the Watcher's council. "But there are some things from the past that should remain there. And this foolishness is certainly one of them!"
"It is not your position to question the decisions of the Council," Wesley said with a sniff. "Although I must say, Mr. Giles, that from what I have seen here tonight, it does not surprise me. You have compromised the secrecy of the Slayer. Consorting with vampires. God only knows what else. Now, I understand that your situation here in Sunnydale is quite stressful, but I must report what I have seen here tonight to the Council. I therefore think it would be in your best interest to accompany us to LA as per the Council's instruction. Perhaps you can put forth your case to have the Slayer return here when she has recovered and deal with the vampire problem here. Although I do not see them approving in any way of your making deals with one vampire to eliminate another."
Giles' face darkened and he glowered at Wesley. "I will not beg the Council any longer. The Slayer is supposed to go where the vampire threat is the greatest. If, from my reports of the past three years, they cannot see that it is here, then there is nothing further that I can say which will convince them." He turned his back on Wesley, "Get out of here. Go on!"

Kendra had remained in the car when they had gotten back and was still there when Wesley stormed out of the house. He jumped behind the wheel and started the car.
"I'm sorry, Sir," Kendra said softly.
"What?" Wesley asked in surprise. "Whatever for?"
"That vampire back there...I...she..." Kendra paused and took a deep breath. "I have no excuse for my incompetence. She could have killed everyone tonight because I wasn't good enough."
Wesley's anger evaporated in a flash. Here he was fighting with an obviously burned out man, while his Slayer was out here kicking herself as being inadequate. "Kendra, you were hardly incompetent. She was the Slayer for three years before you. Now I have the utmost confidence in your strength and fighting skills. But sometimes, like tonight for instance, you will be in a situation where being a strong fighter is not enough. It is the wise fighter who knows when to retreat and find another way to fight his opponent. You were able to hold her off and survived. With the information we now have, we will be better prepared the next time we encounter her."
They drove in silence for a few minutes, before Kendra spoke, "How often does it happen, Sir?"
"Does what happen?" Wesley asked puzzled.
"A Slayer being turned," Kendra said staring intently out the window.
"Surprisingly, not often," Wesley told her. "I have seen a few references regarding Slayer-Vamps. Considering how powerful they are reputed to be you would think that vampires would attempt to turn Slayers more often. Although Mr. Giles reminded me that she was apparently somewhat mentally defective. Damaged while being turned or something. Good thing too. I shudder to think of the damage she might otherwise do."
In silence, they continued driving toward LA. Wesley was disturbed by everything that had happened tonight, especially the discovery of Buffy as a vampire. Kendra was also troubled. She hadn't held off Buffy. Buffy had held her off. Easily. And she hadn't seemed insane to Kendra.
Preoccupied with their own thoughts, the Watcher and Slayer traveled on towards LA, little suspecting of the dark shadow that followed behind them.

Giles watched from the library window as Wesley and Kendra departed. "Bloody Fools," he growled angrily. *Still,* he thought, *at least she's safe from the Master. I'll have to trust she can make it through their damn test.*
"Hey, English," Jenny said softly as she came up for behind and wrapped her arms around his stomach. "I've got tea and Mrs. McKinny has been baking scones since 3 AM." Giles turned about, wrapped his arms about Jenny, and leaned towards her for a long kiss.
"Mmm," Jenny groaned as they broke off their kiss. "As much as I would like to smuggle you off to bed, I think you had better come and tell everyone what happened before they decide to send Harmony and Aura in here to discuss the latest fashions."
Giles let out a mock shudder, "'Out of the frying pan...'" he said softly before leaning in for another kiss. "And here I thought you cared for me."
"I do," Jenny murmured as she rested her head against his chest. "I've been up all night, sick with worry about you."
"I'm sorry," Giles said kissing the top of her head while moving his hand to rest on her pregnant belly. "There was no phone."
"Apology accepted," Jenny said, tilting her head up then kissing him again. "But you don't get your present until you've told me what happened tonight. And I mean the real story, not the cock-and-bull tale you're about to tell us for our protection." At his inquiring look, she continued, "Oz already told me that something was up. You didn't want to talk in front of those two, that's fine. I'm a Gypsy. We're trained from childhood to keep secrets from outsiders. But inside 'The Family', secrets are not allowed."
Giles sighed, "Alright...but tell them that whoever is there when I explain, they don't go out after dark for the next two weeks."
"Two weeks? Why?" Jenny asked in concern.
Giles smiled, "Because tonight, I've seen something that gives me hope..."

The Master lay on the floor gasping in pain as Spike towered over him in rage. With both hands Spike raised the broken staff over his head as he proclaimed, "For Drusilla!" before plunging the splintered end into the Master's heart. As the Master exploded into dust, Spike looked up to face the shocked and silent mass of vampires who had watched the battle.
A chant began. "Spike! Spike! Spike!" Low at first from just one or two vampires in the mob before catching on and slowly moving up in scale as more and more vampires took it up. Spike raised his fists in victory and the chant became a roar as the entire 5000 plus vampires, who had gathered to bow to the Master, took it up like a mantra, acknowledging his supremacy.
"Spike! Spike! Spike!" Their fists stabbed into the air to punctuate each cry.
Suddenly the crowd surged forward to pick him up and parade him about in celebration and victory. They swept around the auditorium and moved towards the cages wherein the hundreds of humans were imprisoned in anticipation of a celebration feast.
Suddenly, the mob halted and Spike was lowered to the floor. Stepping through the crowd, he moved to the front to see a lone figure blocking the cage door.
Buffy.
Battered from the dozens of battles she had fought against the Master's champions, she was covered in blood and dust and looked worn and haggard. But her eyes blazed with defiance, and she grasped the staff she held with determination.
"Luv-" Spike started to say.
"Forget it, Spike," she said flatly. "I will not stand aside. These people deserve to live."
"Spike," Darla spoke up from his side. "This *childe* defies you. Kill her and have done with it."
"No!" Spike shouted sharply. "Buffy, listen to me. You cannot stand against all..." he trailed off waving his hand towards the thousands of vampires behind him.
"Maybe not," she said with a smile as she took a defensive stance. "But it will be fun to see how many of them I can take with me."
"Get her!" Darla shouted and the mob surged forward and around him with a roar.
"No! Wait!" Spike cried out, but this time no one listened.
Darla pulled him to the side and wrapped herself about him. "She would have only gotten in the way," she hissed into his ear. "Besides, what does she have that I don't?"
**A soul,** thought Spike as he watched in mounting despair as Buffy slowly tired and weakened under the continuous onslaught. The staff was finally yanked from her hands and the mob pressed forward, slashing and grasping for her. With mounting dismay, Spike was reminded of the mob in Prague as they attacked Drusilla.
As he took a step forward, he felt Darla pulling on his arm for him to look at her. "You're either with us, or against us, Spike," she told him coldly. "Will you stand against your own kind, like a traitor?"
Spike turned to look again at Buffy and was horrified to see her suddenly swarmed over by dozens of vampires, punching, kicking and biting her. Her right arm extended out of the mob, as if in a pleading gesture for him to help, and he heard an unearthly shriek of pain from her.
The cry was what finally galvanized him into action. He leapt forward and began throwing vampires off of her, left and right. The other vampires flooded past to push into the cage and begin feeding on the terrified humans. Finally, Spike reached Buffy, or rather, what was left of her. She still had all of her limbs, buere ere were dozens of large gouges in her flesh and her blood saturated the ground around her.
"Oh! Buffy," he gasped as he gently slipped his hand under her head. The screams of the imprisoned humans faded in the background.
"Why, Spike?" she gasped in pain. Spike felt the dark tide of grief overwhelm his senses.
He closed his eyes tightly to hold back the tears.
"Why?" he heard her ask again, but her voice was different. "Why won't you save me?"
Spike's eyes shot open, and he looked down. He was holding Drusilla who gazed in agony at him. "I thought you would do anything for your Queen?" she whimpered in pain.
"I-" Spike closed his eyes and looked again to see Buffy staring at him though half-lidded eyes.
"Good-bye, my love," she whispered and then her body turned to dust in his arms.
"No," he gasped, as inside he felt that terrible hollow emptiness return to take possession of his heart.
"help me."
It was barely audible.
"What was that?" asked a voice from the shadows.
Spike looked up to see Whistler step forward. His mouth dry, Spike struggled to control his grief.
"please help me."
"Sorry, buddy," Whistler nodded towards the cage and all the dead humans littering the floor, "but you didn't help them. Why should the higher powers help you with anything? You were given your chance at happiness, and you threw her to the wolves, so to speak."
"She didn't deserve this," Spike said in an empty voice.
"No, she didn't. She deserved someone who would have stood by her side, no matter what the opposition looked like. Instead, she got you who abandoned her at the first chance in a grab for power, how typical of a vampire. Still, at least she went out like a real warrior, even if nobody is left who will ever know or care."
"I care," Spike murmured.
"Maybe," Whistler lit a cigarette. "But apparently not enough to stand by her when it would have counted." He turned and disappeared back into the shadows.
Rage filled Spike, but there was no one there to lash out at. Turning towards the cage he could not find a single vampire or human or anything. Where was everyone? Unreasoning panic began to fill him. He ran to the nearest exit, coming to a halt as he abruptly burst outside to find...nothing.
Not a sight nor sound of a single human or demon, dog or cat, bird or bug. The quiet was deafening. Spike extended his senses but found only emptiness and solitude. A dead world.
"It's the world you helped make," Whistler's voice seemed to whisper softly in his head.
Spike felt the scream of fury bubble up from deep within him until he arched his head back and released a cry to be heard from the depths of hell to the stars in the heavens...
...and jerked awake in his bed in Sunnydale. He felt a burning ache on his side that he ignored as he leapt from the bed and raced down the hall to find Buffy still asleep in her bed. With a sigh of relief, he eased back from the doorway and walked down the hall to the den. The ache was still bothering him, and he looked down to see a foot long strip of gauze-bandage along the right side off his abdomen. Memories of the night before fed bed back and Spike sighed again, this time in resigna.
.
He could hardly believe the changes in her since they had first met just a few short months ago. How much she had grown. In fact, he now admitted to himself that he'd seen only a fraction of what she could be. He had first realized this last week when she'd rescued that Watcher. Last night had simply confirmed that she didn't need him anymore.
He wanted a drink, first, and then he needed to have a long think about what the hell was going on with him. A decision had to be made about what he was going to do with the girl.
Actually, he knew what he needed to do.
He was, after all, a demon.