“Does it matter?” Adam asked.

“Yes, it does. We need her for the plan to work.”

“Do you still care for her?”

Adam gestured toward Spike and where his thumb was softly caressing her cheek. It was a totally reflexive gesture and he quickly snatched his hand away. Regret moved though him as he stared down at her fragile and helpless state but he pushed it aside. This wasn’t the time for any emotions that would leave him weak.

“No, not anymore,” Spike said, standing as Riley and Forrest returned. “You really need to teach him the difference between scaring and almost killing. Fine distinction there, you know.”

“He cares for the girl. He will be a liability in the fight.” Adam said.

“I told you I didn’t. Just wanted to make sure you left her alive so that all the plans don’t go to hell because you’ve got issues.”

Buffy moaned again and Spike along with the others looked down at her as she began to move.

“Get out of here,” Riley said. “And both of you had better get it together before everything gets blown.”

Spike took one last look down at Buffy then raised his head a fraction to trace a scent. His gaze followed the source to some dense bushes not far from the clearing and nodded just a trace. With a smirk he turned and followed Adam into the forest.

Intense rage filled Angel as he watched Buffy being thrown against the crypt. He had started toward her when Spike had rushed to her side so he waited for a moment to see what he was going to do. There was almost tenderness on the face of his Childe as he checked the Slayer for injuries but it didn’t matter. As far as he was concerned Spike had crossed the final line when he had allowed that monster to touch Buffy. He heard his mate moan and Spike’s words indicating that she was going to be all right that made him decide to bide his time for a while longer. He continued to watch as Riley and Forrest returned confirming their suspicions that they did know what Adam was up to and whatever was going down was going to be bigger than they had originally thought. Of course Spike being on their side only lowered their chances of winning but Angel vowed that by dawn the blonde wouldn’t be a danger to them anymore.

Angel watched as Buffy woke and with the help of the two soldier boys made her way to Willow’s dormitory. Angel waited impatiently until Riley and Forrest left so that he could hurry to the room to check on her himself. He didn’t bother to knock as he entered and rushed to her side. The need to see her overwhelming any other thought in his mind.

He knelt in front of her on the floor, laying his hands on her knees. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Buffy said. “Of course I’m going to have a major headache coming on but other than that I’m okay.”

“Here,” Willow said, handing her a bag of ice. “I called Xander so that he can give you a ride home. I didn’t think it would be too good for you to be walking.”

“Thanks, Will, I appreciate it.”

Buffy winced as she pressed the ice to the back of her head and her free hand squeezed Angel’s hand. He smiled up at her hoping to give her the reassurance that she was looking for.

“So, Spike was in on this? Are you sure?” Willow said. Her hands fidgeted in her lap and for some reason it irritated Angel.

“What is it? You two need Buffy dead before you’ll believe that Spike is out to get us.” Angel stood and paced the room. “This is it.”

“What do you mean?” Buffy asked.

Angel stopped in front of her and hesitated. He knew that if he told her of his plans she would be angry but that she would be angrier if he didn’t tell her. The decision weighed on him and finally decided not to tell her until it was over. Spike was his responsibility to deal with and they would all be better off if he was gone.

“Nothing for you to worry about,” he told her softly. “I just have some things to take care of, that’s all. I’m going to send you with Xander and I’ll be home later.”

“No, you are going to tell me what you are doing.”

Willow’s worried look went from one to the other and Angel tried to relax knowing that his tension was only making the situation worse.

“Angel, are you planning on staking him?” Willow asked.

Angel remained silent; unable to lie directly and unable to tell the truth.

“No, you are not going to hurt Spike.” Buffy protested. “We still don’t know everything.”

“He let that monster try to kill you. What more do you want? He can’t touch you himself so he is having his cohorts do it.” As Buffy stood, she swayed on her feet and her mate reached out to steady her. It was too much for Angel and he hugged her, feeling the softness and steel of her petite form against him. His hand stroked her back and he laid a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I need to do this to protect us.”

She pushed him away from her and his own anger was radiated back at him as her eyes flashed.

“I said no. As your mate, I demand the right to exact my own revenge in my own time.”

For a moment Angel could only stare in confusion at her. One thing he had never gotten around to doing was explaining the ‘rules and privileges of being a mate of the alpha male’. Both his mate and Childe hadn’t wanted to play by the rules of him being the Alpha male so he had never educated Buffy on her role. He had thought that she would just scoff at the archaic rituals and domination games anyway much less ever invoke them. Just as his confusion faded, clarity clicked in and he knew that it had to have been Spike and he laughed.

“He played you really well. Got you to fall in love with him knowing that you’re compassion would refuse to allow him to be punished and made sure that you knew the words to use, too. Maybe he’s smarter than I’ve given credit for.”

“Then you’ll allow me my right?” Buffy asked.

Angel stepped closer to her, his anger only multiplied, at her request. He wondered if Spike had told her everything or only what suited him as he ran a finger down her cheek. It was very doubtful that he had or Buffy wouldn’t have played that card knowing that it would only end in pain for her.

“I will allow it, mate, but be aware that if we are going to play by the rules then I will demand my rights from you. So, be very sure that this is what you want.”

There was a flash of defiance in her eyes as she nodded her head and accepted the challenge and Angel felt a small thrill of pride run through him that she would stand up to him.

“Then let the games begin.” He told her softly and although he knew he would never play those games with her, he still couldn’t deny the pleasure he felt at the thought of doing just that.

After making sure that the courtyard was empty, Spike headed toward Giles’ flat. He avoided the door and instead made his way to the window. Before making his presence known he had to make sure that the Watcher was alone. Once again he surveyed the courtyard then turned to look in as Giles returned to the living room with tea cup in hand.

He is alone. This should be fun. Spike thought, heading toward the front door. Hopefully, I haven’t been uninvited. His hand turned the knob and flung the door open. With relief he stepped through the door and he grinned as Giles turned to look at him in surprise.

“’allo Watcher. We need to talk,” Spike said as he slammed the door shut behind him.

Buffy pressed the end button on her phone as Angel strode into her room. With concern for the older man in her eyes she turned toward her mate. “I’ve tried to call Giles three times and he’s not picking up. I’m getting worried about him.”

“Did you ever think that he might have a date?” Angel asked with a smile.

“Giles? Date? No I don’t think so.” Buffy laughed slightly. “I’ve never seen Giles be interested in a woman much less actually be dating.”

With a shrug of her shoulders, Buffy went to sit on the bed while Angel followed her. He held his hands toward her with a glass of water in one and a bottle of pain reliever in the other.

“I brought you something for your headache. How are you feeling?”

“Headachy.” She quipped and watched in approval as Angel smiled in response.

Buffy took the bottle first, shaking out two tablets before popping them into her mouth, then washing them down with the glass of water. After she drank the cool liquid, she faced her lover. She smiled as his hands probed the back of her head and caressed the almond-sized bump.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?”

“Nah, Slayer healing. I’ll be fine by morning.” Buffy said, her hand reaching for his. She brought it to her lips and kissed the palm before rubbing her cheek against it. “Thank you for being there.”

“No, where else I want to be. I love you.”

Buffy closed her eyes for a moment as she gathered the courage to broach the subject of Spike. Things between her and Angel had been good since they had left the dormitory and gotten home. He had been caring and sweet and she didn’t want to start another fight over the missing vampire.

“I love you, too.” Her eyes opened and looked into his as she held tight to his hand. “Thank you for not going after him.”

Angel immediately tensed up and Buffy sighed in frustration.

“It was your right to stop me.”

“And your choice whether or not to grant my request. I know you’re having a hard time with this but, it was just something that happened after I got hurt, I was really out of it but I remember him checking on me like you just did and then his hand was on my face. It was almost…tender.”

It was when Angel turned away from her and sighed that Buffy knew it wasn’t her imagination or wistful thinking, Spike had been checking on her. Anger flooded her as she stared in disbelief at her mate.

“You knew he was checking on me? And you were going to kill him anyway? How could you?”

Angel stood to walk over to the dresser. His hands clenched and unclenched over and over showing his emotional turmoil while Buffy waited for him to answer her.

“I saw him stand there and not do anything while that monster hurt you. It was probably guilt that made him show some concern for you. Why do you insist on protecting him?”

“Because I love you.”

“That makes a hell of a lot sense,” Angel said. He gave a short bitter laugh before returning to sit next to her on the bed, the slump of his shoulders showing his pain.

Buffy immediately shifted closer to him as her anger slipped away and was replaced by compassion for the confused brunette next to her. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close while her hand caressed his arm as she snuggled against him.

“It does make sense because if you destroy him now then we’ll never know why and eventually it would eat away at you and you’d wish you’d never done it. I know that there are more things showing that he is a danger to us but its little things like tonight when he checked on me that makes me wonder what is really up. And until I know I can’t give up on him.”

“It’s going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack to find some good in him. He’s a soulless demon and we forgot that.”

“No we didn’t. And I’ll search through every piece of hay one by one until I get the answers I need. I want him to look me in the eye and tell me that he doesn’t love us. I want to know why he’s doing this. He may not have a soul, Angel, but he’s got humanity. Willow considers him a friend and everyday I’d come home from classes to find Giles and him watching Passions before my training sessions. Why would he throw away all this?” Her hand playfully slapped his leg. “And don’t tell me it’s because he’s evil because I don’t believe it.”

“I do believe it. I created him and taught him everything he knows.”

“Oh, Angel,” Buffy sat up again and cradled his face in her hands. Her thumbs softly caressed his cheeks. “It’s not that you don’t believe in him. It’s because you’re afraid of hoping. If you hope that there is good in him and there isn’t then you’ll be hurt. And if you hope for him to return then you have to put your own heart on the line and that terrifies you.”