Note: Each part of this is like a seperate episode.

Part 1

Willow stuck her tongue out.

"That was mature."

"And you are?"

"I'll have you know that I am very old."

"Wow, 126. That doesn't mean that you're mature."

"Oh, and how old are you? Thirteen? Fifteen?"

"Eighteen, I'll have you know."

"Ooooo. Wow."

"Willow, Spike please," Giles begged. Their talking was driving him crazy.

"Sorry," they said in unison.

"We're here!" Buffy's voice rang.

"Bloody hell," Spike cursed and stood up from the floor and turned toward the door.

Buffy opened her mouth to introduce Riley to Giles, but before she had a chance to speak, he lunged in the direction of Spike and Willow.

Spike vamped out as the human's fist connected rather painfully with his jaw. Luckily, not that he liked the thought very much, the slayer saved him.

"Riley!" Buffy yelled and ran after him pulling him back. "Stop!"

"Buffy, he is a vampire!" he yelled and tried pushing her away but she held him back.

"We know that," Buffy said calmly.

Riley turned to her. "You knew he was the one that escaped us and you didn't tell me?"

"You know that he can't kill humans," she responded.

Spike realized what was going on. This was one of the assholes that had done that to him. "You bastard," he growled and lunged forward.

"Spike!" Willow screamed, but he didn't stop. She ran and jumped on his back before he could get close enough to Riley to cause any harm.

Spike stopped. "Willow, let go," he growled out.

"No," she said firmly and wrapped her legs around his waist.

Spike turned his head to the side. "Willow..." he warned.

"What are you going to do, Spike?" she asked kindly. "He knows you can't hurt him. All you'd wind up doing is getting your ass kicked. And Buffy could do that any day for you."

Spike frowned. "Funny."

"Okay, I have a question," Xander asked as Anya and he walked in the house. "Why is Willow on Spike's back?"

"Maybe they're going to have sex," Anya said simply. "What?" she asked as everyone turned to look at her.

"See Riley. Spike is... Well, he is... I don't know. But he's nice enough to give Willow a piggy back ride," Buffy thought up and cringed.

"Willow, get off," Spike said. He would have taken her off by now, but she was wrapped around him so tight he didn't want to hurt her.

"Not until you promise not to be a meany," she told him decidedly.

"All right, I promise," he told her disappointed. She had been right, he most likely would only have gotten his ass kicked.

"Then stop being all grrrr. Remember? Takes all the fun out of it. Be mysterious," she reminded him of their previous conversation.

Spike sighed and shifted back to his human face. "Better?"

"Yeah," she said and slid down his back and stepped out from behind him.

"Okay, now that all the theatrics are over...." Buffy started.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know, Willow. I think Spike kind of likes you," Buffy said as she pulled back her sheets.

Willow coughed. "What?"

"Well, come on. He's only nice to you. And he didn't attack Riley when you asked him not to. Spike doesn't take me as the kind of person to listen to any human," she explained and slipped under her blankets.

"Buff,y give me a break. I mean, Spike? He is still a bad guy, even though he can't kill us. If he wasn't in this position, he'd probably be planning our deaths," Willow argued with her. The though of Spike liking her was just...just something that sent shivers through her body. Not all in a good way. Kind of scary.

"Willow, I'm not saying go get married to him," Buffy told her friend. "No definitely don't get married to him. It would never work out. Believe me, I know first hand."

Willow cringed. "Sorry."

"But he was a good kisser," Buffy admitted.

"Buffy!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Buffy."

"Riley, hey," Buffy said and smiled. "What's up?" she asked perkily.

"I need to talk to you," he told her seriously.

"Okay," she said. She waved to the couple of people she was talking to and allowed Riley to lead her off. "So what do you need to talk to me about?"

"The vampire," he told her simply.

Buffy sighed but knew he needed to say what he had to say. Then she'd argue with him. "Okay. What about Spike?"

"You need to hand him over to us Buffy. He is dangerous. He has escaped us more than once," Riley pleaded with her.

"Spike? Dangerous? Ha. Do you know how many times he has tried to kill me?" Buffy noticed the look the came over his face. "Okay, bad choice of words. But the point is, he never succeeded. I could beat his ass any day."

"Then why are you keeping him there?" Riley asked her. He hadn't told anyone about the vampire yet. But that didn't mean he wouldn't.

"Because, I don't know why. I mean yeah, he is a vampire. But he can't hurt us. Now that we realized he can kill demons, he is helping us. He needs his daily kill." Buffy silently cursed herself. She really needed to plan out these speeches. Buffy sighed. "Riley, you don't want to just stake him to save lives. You want to take him for tests. If the time comes that I have to, I will stake him. But right now he is harmless. And even more helping us."

"Buffy..." he pleaded with her. He knew it was no use. She was right. He would bring him back and not kill him.

"I'll help you kill the vampires. But I will not help you trap them." she told him firmly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do it again."

Spike followed her orders.

"What does it feal like?" Willow inquired amazed.

"I don't know. It's become such a habit I don't notice it anymore," he told her simply.

"Can I touch it?" Willow asked like an excited child.

"I don't care," he said and shrugged.

Willow crawled closer to him on the couch and sat on her feet. She leaned over his chest and brought her hand up to his forehead. "Wow. What does that feel like?" Willow asked and poked at the vampire ridges.

Spike squinted as she poked at his head. "Like you're poking at me head."

Willow ran her hand over the soft ridges about his eyes. "They're hard but kinda soft." Willow moved closer. "I feel like I'm petting a cat." Willow said and giggled.

"I guess so, cats like to be petted," he told her. He watched her through his yellow demon eyes.

"You like that?" she asked surprised. Willow waited for him to respond. But he didn't. She took that as a yes. She scooted forward and propped herself up on his chest on one arm while the other hand continued sliding over his vampire face.

"It doesn't scare you?" he asked sounding a little interested.

"Well, yea hmost of the time. But not right now," she said absentmindedly.

"Why not?" he asked her. He really wanted to know. He wanted to know why she wasn't scared of him. Not that he wanted her to be.

"I don't know," Willow continued to lightly glide her hand along the vampire features. "Most likely because of the fact you can't hurt me. In this position, you're kinda nice. Even though you are a vampire. I mean, if this were Angelus with this problem, I don't think we'd be letting him run free around the house."

"I'm not Angelus." Spike said firmly.

Willow noticed the angrily flicker in his eyes at the mention of Angel.

"That was my point," she said softly.

"Ow," Spike exclaimed as she kneeled on his leg and growled.

Willow sat back and laughed. "Do it again."

"What?" he asked confused.

"Grrrr," she said and laughed again.

Spike sighed and let his demon face fade away.

"Awwww," Willow said disappointed. She sat back against the couch and turned to Spike seriously. "Why do I have to vampsit you?"

"Because you're easy," he told her.

Willow frowned. "Meany."

"You know I don't see why I have to be watched. I can't hurt anyone," he said a little angrily.

"Yeah, but you could run off," she argued.

"Okay, how would that help me get rid of this little problem?" he asked.

Willow didn't respond. She really didn't see them getting rid of the problem. And that didn't seem like a good idea to her either. She liked him better like this. Not trying to kill her and all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Slayer, you gotta break off the bloody horn!" Spike cursed as he kicked the large demon.

"I know that!" Buffy screamed as she stood back up from being knocked on the ground.

Spike growled. "You fight this nasty thing. I'll get the horn."

Buffy didn't respond but jumped in front of the demon as Spike ran from it. The demon slapped her with one of it's slimy fins knocking her to the ground. Buffy looked up at the demon gapping. Her eyes narrowed and she scowled. "This was a 60 dollar shirt!" she screamed.

Spike paused only a moment. Now he knew how to make her fight. Ruin her clothes. He shook off the ridiculous thoughts and climbed up the tree. "Shit," he cursed as a something sharp stuck in his hand, but he continued his climb.

Once he reached a high enough point he jumped from the tree and landed on the disgusting demon. "Bloody hell. I can't do this with you kicking him!" Spike yelled as he tried to reach from the horn poking out from the demon's forehead. But it didn't stop her. Spike growled loudly as the demon was knocked back sandwiching Spike between him and the tree. Spike let out an angry growled and reached forward breaking the horn with all his might. The demon let out a painfilled roar and began to shrink. Spike fell away from the demon and watched from the ground as he seemed to get lower and lower.

Buffy titled her head at the green mess. "Did he deflate?"

"I don't bloody know. But I do know that I'm covered in it's nasty slime and I smell," he said angrily.

"Well, that's nothing new for you." Buffy matched his anger since she was equally covered in the same substance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Giles! They're back!" Willow yelled when she heard the angry yelling from outside the house.

"Did it work?" Willow asked as they walked in.

"Yeah, we killed him," Buffy said gloomily.

"No, I killed him," Spike corrected her. "You just whined about your clothes."

"You wouldn't have been able to kill him without me," she told him.

Spike noticed the watcher walk in. "You know," he began and put his hand on a chair. "Son of a-!" he yelled.

"You know son of a? That made no sense." Buffy told him and smirked as she walked to the back.

"I have a bloody stake in my hand, if you don't mind," he told her.

"Whatever," she said and walked to the bathroom with Giles following her to see what happened.

"You two are very kind," Spike said sarcastically as he looked at his palm.

Willow walked up to him. "A stake?" she asked confused.

Spike hissed as he tried to remove the piece of wood.

"Let me see," she told him and reached for his hand.

Spike growled softly and pulled his hand away from her.

"All right, fine," Willow said a little angered and hurt. She turned and walked in the direction that Giles and Buffy had went.

Spike reached for her. "Willow. Ow!" he yelled. Of course, he had to be dumb enough to grab her with THAT hand.

Willow turned and sighed. "Let me see," she told him firmly.

Spike didn't argue this time and held out his hand to her palm up.

Willow took his large hand in her two small ones. The first thing that entered her mind was the fact that it was cold. She quickly dismissed it and searched out the 'stake.' "You ninny."

"What?!?"

"It's a splinter," she told him and frowned. She held his hand in hers and pulled him over to the sofa. "Sit," she told him. After he did, she began searching through her purse. "Ah ha."

"What are you going to do with that?" Spike asked incredulously.

"Get the splinter out, you big baby," Willow told him.

"Oh, no, I don't think so. You're not sticking that thing with me," he told her decidedly.

"Spike, it's just a safety pin! This from a vampire who was nicknamed William the Bloody, killed his victims with spikes, and killed two slayers," she said trying to egg him on.

"You know an awful lot about me pet," Spike said amused.

"Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer," she told him and smirked.

Spike raised his eyebrows. "You promise?"

Willows eyes widened, and she felt a shyness that she had thought she had gotten rid of a few years ago.

"Ow!" Spike yelled.

"Huh? Oh sorry." Willow cringed. In her moment of embarrassment ,she had kind of missed her target and poked him hard enough to start bleeding. She concentrated hard on his hand, and a few moments later, she had retrieved the splinter.

"Got it," she said softly and held it up for him to see.

Spike took it from her and looked at it. "Huh." It was kind of tiny. He grabbed her hand and smiled as she jumped. He used his other hand to open hers and then took the safety pin from her, but did not let her hand go. "I don't think you should be wielding such a weapon pet. You seem to cause damage with it."

Willow nodded quickly. "Okay," she said and stood up. "I'm gonna um go see what Buffy and Giles are doing. You uh stay here," she told him and took off in the other direction.

"Don't be long!" he yelled after her and laughed as her pace quickened. "This could be fun," he realized.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2

Spike tried again. It still didn't work. Then again. It still didn't work. With an angry growl, he threw the cup across the room. "I can't drink it," he growled out.

"What?" Buffy asked amazed.

"The blood. I can't drink it," he explained in a strained voice.

"No, you can't drink blood FROM a human. But you can drink it out of a cup. You've been doing it," Buffy told him decidedly.

"Well, I can't now!" he yelled. He was frustrated. He was scared. This was a vampire's worse nightmare, besides being caught in the sun or with a stake sticking out your chest. But that was fast. This. This was slow. And painful. Almost as if you where be dusted a bit day by day.

"Okay, we need to just calm down," Willow spoke up.

"Calm down?!?! Are you bloody crazy!?!?! I cannot feed. Which means I will die. It would be easier just to stake myself now!" he yelled at her.

Willow flamed with fury. "Don't yell at me! I didn't do this! And if we don't calm down, then we can't figure out what the hell happened!" she screamed. When she was through she found herself taking deep breaths and her throat hurting.

"All right, since I think I am the expert on demons here I'm going to tell you what I think the is. An artifice demon," Anya said to them. But She didn't think; she knew. It had the little bitch's trademark all over it. And the fact that Anya knew she was in town. She hadn't expected her to do something this drastic.

"A what?" Xander asked, his face showing his confusion. "This is slacker boy here. Not good with big fancy words."

"I have to agree with Xander there," Buffy spoke up.

Anya sighed. "An artifice demon goes around playing tricks on humans and other demons. She has no favorite. She just cannot affect the demons of the same ranking position as her because they serve the same purpose, in a sense. Like me," Anya explained. But she could tell they still didn't fully understand. "D'Hoffryn made me a demon, just like he made her an artifice demon. I took out vengeance on men with my powers, before I was a demon. Before she was turned into a demon, she used her powers for trickery. Cruel trickery. So D'Hoffryn offered her an eternity of playing tricks on people."

"And this is her idea of a trick?" Spike asked incredulously.

"Pretty much. A cruel one. But she's a demon. I always thought they were pretty amusing. But the little bitch always thought she was better then me creating chaos where she wanted to. Instead, I had to wait for some human to make a wish. And some weren't all that great. AND to top it off she wasn't as easy to get rid of. No, they didn't give her a stone that could get destroyed and take away her powers." Anya let out a huff. "Or at least that's my opinion."

"How do you know it is her?" Giles questioned.

"Well, she would do something like this. Not let him be able to feed," she told them. Of course, they couldn't just take the over a 1,000 year old demons word for it.

"Why Spike then? She would have nothing against Spike," Giles added.

Anya sighed angrily. "She is an artifice demon. She has no use for grudges. She did it to him because she could. She could have done it to you, Buffy, Willow, or even Xander. She just happened to choose Spike. Most likely because he caught her attention because of the fact that he is a vampire that just happens to be in the position of not being able to directly feed off of humans. If I was her, I would most likely have done it." And he calls himself a watcher. "And I know it was her because she paid me a little visit the other day. Babbling something about a great joke she played, and I would love it. But I better be sure to bring a broom and a dust pan with me."

Spike frowned at the thought. "So how do we reverse this?"

Anya sighed. "She is the only one that can do it. Usually it involved giving her something. But there have been times when she was forced to when another strong being happened to know the person she tricked. Those were the ones I liked to see. She isn't very brave. She creates a mess and watches. Doesn't make her presence known to anyone. Then after it is through, she moves on." But Anya had a feeling that it would be easy to get her to change her mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One week later.

"Anya."

Anya spun at the familiar voice calling her name. "I was wondering when you would show up to gloat."

"Like it?" Pauline asked excitedly.

"Not particularly," Anya responded dryly.

"Too bad. I do," Pauline sighed.

"So, then. What do you want?" Anya asked.

Pauline smiled. "Nothing. Just to watch," she said and disappeared.

"Wonderful," Anya said and coughed from all the smoke left in Pauline's wake. Now how were they going to get through this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"But you said there is a way of getting her to stop it," Spike argued. Although he most likely didn't look much like he was arguing considering the weakness in his voice.

"There is. I just didn't think it would be this hard," Anya explained.

"How do we find her?" Buffy asked. This whole situation was getting out of hand and she didn't like that.

"We don't. Whatever it is she wants, then the opportunity will arise for us to give it to her." But that idea obviously didn't sit well with Spike.

"While I sit here and die!" he yelled loudly. But it did nothing to serve his point because he began having a coughing fit soon after.

"I don't care what you say, Anya. Although Spike isn't exactly my favorite person, this is ridiculous. I'm not going to let her do this. We are going to find her," Buffy stated with steel in her voice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You know, Anya, I had thought about bringing one of the objects back from one of your wishes," Pauline said as she appeared beyond Anya.

Anya turned around and found herself intrigued. "Which one?"

Pauline laughed. "The one you managed to drag over here instead of your stone."

Anya frowned at the mention of her precious item. But she pushed the thought away. "That was a great world," Anya agreed.

"I thought so myself. When you pulled that little wish, believe me I was a little surprised when I woke up that day," Pauline said and laughed. "That wish would have worked as a great trick."

"Then why didn't you? It would have worked just as well. Most likely a better trick worthy of an artifice demon don't you think?" Anya questioned her.

"You may like to doubt me, Anya, but I give thoughts to these things and decide how they would come out. That one, I think, could have ended terribly. Still a nice trick, though. I mean come on. You bring that girl back as a vampire. Even if they did send her back or stake her. That might get someone thinking. And what would you rather? The vampire or the human?"

Anya frowned. Pauline was right. It wouldn't have worked at all. "But that couldn't have happened right now."

"What if the situation changed? It could have," Pauline smiled. "You still don't know yet, do you?"

"No," Anya admitted and frowned.

"Well, Anya, I must be off. I you don't then, this really wasn't even worth it," Pauline told her and disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three days later.

"Spike?" Willow asked, coming in. It was her turn to watch him while the others went out to try to clear up the problem with Spike.

"Spike!" she yelled. But there was no response. A feeling of worry and dread came over her and she began to hyperventilate. She walked into Giles' living room but he wasn't in their.

"Spike!" she screamed. "Oh god." Willow turned to walk to the back of the house but it didn't take long for her to find him. He was sprawled out on the hall floor. Willow ran up to him and she kneeled down next to him.

"Spike wake up," she told him and began to shake him. He obviously wasn't dead or else he would be dust. But he was skinny. Too skinny. His eyes looked sunken in and he had lost the quirky look he usually had. Willow sat on the floor and pulled his head into her lap. She pulled her hand back and slapped him across the face. "Wake up!"

A small growl passed Spike's lips and his vamp visage slipped into place.

Willow didn't falter. He had been doing that a lot lately. Vamping out. Probably the smell of blood that he couldn't drink. A vampire hungry was bound to have little control. But he didn't move. His yellow eyes just stared into hers.

"They haven't found her yet, Spike," Willow told him softly.

"Obviously," he responded quietly.

Willow didn't let the comment bother her. It was him. She wasn't sure of what to tell him. She couldn't reassure him that they would. Because he knew the truth. His eyes began to slowly close, and she began to cry silently. She brought one of her hands up to his face and slid it gently over his head above his eyes. His eyes opened and his yellow eyes flashed at her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That was the fourth time Pauline had visited her. Pauline said the answer to solving it was easy. Anya recalled what the point of all this was and tried to draw a conclusion from that of what the answer was. It couldn't be Spike. He was in the position. Their had to be another way of solving it. And the only other person was-. Anya screamed. "I am so stupid!" she yelled and bounded out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow wrapped both arms around Spike. "Are you supposed to be this cold?"

"I'm dying, Willow. People get cold when they die," he said softly.

A pained look came over Willow's face. She pulled him closer to her and became aware of the slight shiver running through his body. She winced. This wasn't Spike. He was tough and sarcastic. Not like this.

"Willow!" a voice yelled throughout the house.

"Anya?!?" Willow yelled.

Anya ran in the direction in which the voice came but halted when she found Willow. "I didn't think this soon," she admitted. Pauline had taken this one to far. And Anya felt like she deserved the consequences. "Willow, you can help him."

"How?" Willow asked confused. "He's dying. Probably the only thing I could do now is to stake him to quicken it along. And that I'm not going to do." Willow said firmly. "Spike!" Willow screamed when his eyes began to close again. "No!" she sobbed.

"Will you just let me die, Willow?" Spike said. Somehow he managed to sound annoyed.

"No," she told him firmly.

"Then help him," Anya told her.

"How?" Willow asked and turned to her.

"You have powers, Willow, use them. Reach out and pull on the artifice demon." Anya directed her.

"I don't know how," Willow cried. "Why can't you? You know magic."

"I knew magic. My powers were taken with the stone. You do know how. Just open yourself and find where the power holding over Spike is coming from. And when you find it pull on it."

Willow knew how to feel power. When she did spells, she felt it. But that was when she did them. She never really tried opening herself up to the power. But their was a first time for everything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pauline frowned. "Damn." Her girlie face and blond hair faded away to reveal nasty green faced demon with thick blue veins running under her skin. "And here I was so close," she pouted and soon disappeared

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow jumped as the power was thrown back at her. Here eyes opened and a mean looking green demon stood before her. Willow turned to Anya. "Is that...?"

Anya nodded.

"Why did you pull me to this mortal realm?" Pauline asked angrily.

Anya rolled her eyes. Of course, she had always been that dramatic herself.

"Anya?" Willow asked worried.

"Hey, you did it, not me," Anya told her and backed up.

Willows eyes widened. She let go of Spike and stood up shakily. She stepped over him to stand in-between him and the demon. "Because you pulled a nasty trick on Spike."

"That's what I do," the demon stated simply.

"Well, then undo it," Willow told her firmly.

The demon laughed. "Undo it?" she laughed again. "Why would I do that?"

"Because we need him," Willow told her. This demon didn't seem to be in a reasoning mood, and Willow didn't see herself actually making the demon fix Spike.

"We need him," the demon sighed. "I don't think so. I think some of 'we' couldn't care less. I think you better come up with someone else who actually needs him. Because I really see no use in reversing this."

Willow frowned. "I need him."

The demon smirked. "Really?"

"Yes," Willow said decidedly.

Pauline sighed and let her demon visage fade away, to reveal a human face. She shrugged her shoulder. "Okay." She waved a hand in the direction of Spike and disappeared.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm going now." Pauline said as she appeared in front of Anya.

"Good," Anya admitted.

"Hey, don't blame this on me," Pauline argued.

"I didn't think you would be so drastic. I just asked for something simple," Anya argued.

"I'm an artifice demon. What did you expect? I never saw you doing tiny things. But anyway my debt to you is repaid," Pauline told her and sighed.

"I still would have rather my necklace back," Anya told her.

"Well, I couldn't get it. It's hard to do tricks like that. And even more hard when you lose it in another world that is now gone. Anyway from what I've seen it doesn't look like you should be that kind of demon anymore. You've got yourself a little boy toy and all," Pauline said and laughed. "Anya, the matchmaking demon." Pauline continued to laugh.

"Yea, well, you didn't do a too good job of it," Anya retorted. Her? A match making demon? Ridiculous!

"Well, I don't make a habit of trying to make a relationship out of vampires and humans. Besides when I arrived, it seemed to be working pretty well," Pauline argued. She thought she had done a good job. She just helped. It was going to take them a while. "And anyway, you spent over a 1,000 years granting wishes for women scorned by men. I don't think you are to much of a pro in the relationship department." Pauline smiled and disappeared.

Anya frowned. "Bitch."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3

"What?!?!" Giles yelled.

Buffy winced at the high tone of his voice. She hadn't meant for it to happen. It just had. "Giles, I didn't want to tell them, but they saw Riley and I together," she explained to him. However, it did no good.

Giles took off his glasses and rested his head on the back of the couch. "What happened?" he asked, as calmly as possible.

"Riley and were fighting. Well, it turns out, two of his friends are part of the Initiative. Riley was keeping more secrets than I thought. But as I was saying, they came along all macho like in their army gear. Also what is up with tha?. You don't see me all in army gear. Sometimes in some pants and a cute little shirt." Buffy's eyes widened and she held her hand out. "And sometimes even skirt." Buffy sighed and continued. "Well, they helped us kill the demon. And before you know it one of those idiots say into there microphone things 'Sir we have a situation.' A situation! Can you believe it! I am a situation. I have been doing this for a much longer time then they have. And I am the situation! Where they chosen!?! Noooooo, I don't think so."

By this time Buffy was standing and pacing back and forth angrily. It hadn't upset her till now.

Giles sighed. Of course, she still hadn't gotten to the point. "What happened after?"

"Well, the same guy carried out a conversation quietly, while I sent mean glances towards him. I hope he felt it too. When he was finished, he said to Riley........

***** "Riley, we have to take her in," he said as he walked closer.

Riley opened his mouth to give a negative, but Buffy was there before him.

"Take me in?" Buffy scoffed. "Oh, no, I don't think so. You can just take your little laser gun and your microphone thingy and shove it-"

"Buffy," Riley said quietly. He turned to the other two. "Look, Forest, there is no reason for us to take her in." But of course, he was cut off again.

"Riley, she knows about us. We have no choice. She knew that someone was helping you," Forest told him. He would have never have guessed it would have been her.

"Who is she?" Buffy asked.

"You'll know soon enough," he told her.

Buffy looked at them through narrowed eyes. "You want to take me in? Go ahead. Just try it."

"Buffy...." Riley started.

"No. We should give them a chance. I mean, they can't go back saying that they refused to take me in. At least this way, they can say I kicked their asses, and they had no choice." She was getting tired of this whole initiative. They really needed a whole lesson in the area of The Chosen One. ************

"Then a vamp came along. So since their was three of them, I knew they could take care of him and I took off," she said simply.

"So they don't know about you being a slayer?" Giles asked her. He was a little relieved. But they still knew Buffy was involved and it wouldn't be the end of this.

"No, but I expect that I'll be hearing something soon from them. And most likely, they'll be watching me with all of their high tech equipment. You know for such a large watchers organization and only one slayer, you all don't fund very well," she told him.

~~~~~

"So what do we do now?" Willow asked her as she laid under her covers in the darkened room.

"Stay on the look out. You and Xander can both help me out. There bound to find out that you know. And that Giles knows and Spike too. Although, I'm not going to kill myself saving his life, I don't want him in the hands of the Initiative. I know we can trust, Riley, but I don't know about the other two. Or any of the other people involved. There was someone Forest reported to It's a women. Because he said 'she.'" Buffy was going to be on the look out for them to. She was going to find out everything.

"Buffy, if they find out we are harboring Spike, they'll come straight for him," Willow told her. Not only would that put them in danger ,but also she didn't want them getting their hands on Spike.

"I don't like, Spike. We all know that. But I refuse to let them take him and kill him. If anyone gets to kill him, it will be me."

Willow smiled in the dark. As many times as Buffy's says that, she has never acted on it. The problem is, Buffy and Spike loved to hate each other.

"But taking a vampire and performing tests on him, or any other demon, is unnatural." And if they worked against her and tried to stop her they where going to have a serious problem.

~~~~~~

"Go Fish!" Spike yelled triumphantly.

Willow frowned and pulled another card from the middle of the table then smiled. "I got it," she told him and stuck her tongue out at him as she held up the matching cards.

"I'm still winning though. So you have a 3?" he asked.

"I caught one," Buffy announced as she walked in.

Willow let out a relieved breath. Now she wouldn't have to give him her 3. "Caught one what?"

"Army guys. They were spying on me, while I was patrolling. I gave him a swift kick in the ass and told him to tell whoever was in charge they have a problem now," she told them and plopped down on the sofa. She looked confused at Willow and Spike who where sitting on the floor on either sides of a table with cards in there hands. "So what game are you two playing this time?"

"Go Fish," Willow told her.

"Speaking of. I think you have my 3, pet." Spike reminded her.

Willow scowled and threw the card at him. "Next time, I pick the game," she told him and turned back to Buffy. "So what are you going to do?"

"Although, I could care less about your cause slayer, I hate the bloody army brats more. In my opinion, you need to show them who is running this bloody hellmouth," he spoke up. "Do you have a 6?"

"Go fish," Willow told him haughtily.

"Right, Spike, let me tell you. They have an army of guys running around with little masks, things to sense vampires and little laser guns. I show them who is in charge, how?" she asked him.

"You have a queen?" Willow asked him.

Spike frown and handed the card to her.

"Ha ha," Willow told him and stuck her tongue out.

"Very becoming, pet," Spike responded then turned to Buffy. "Look, I didn't say I knew how to do it. But what are you going to do? Let them take over your little gig?"

"It's not a gig!" Buffy exclaimed. "I am the ch-" she started to rant and rave but was cut off by Spike.

"Yeah, the Chosen One, there can be only one. Look I've heard it to much over just a century. If your so bloody special, why don't you let them know? They don't have the superhuman strength. You do. Come on Willow. You're taking forever to lose."

Willow huffed. "All right, mister "I'm-a-big-bad-vampire-who-can't-even-kill-people!" Give me your King."

Spike growled and threw the card towards her.

"Oh look!" Willow exclaimed with mock surprise. "I am all out of cards. I guess I shall have to pick one from this dear old pile of fishies." Willow picked up one of the remaining three cards. "Do you have an ace?" Willow asked sweetly.

Spike slammed the card on the table.

Willow smiled triumphantly and placed the two matching cards down. "You know Buffy, Spike is right." She grabbed another card off the table. "You are the chosen one. You defeated all the badies and demons and masters and closed hellmouths before they even came to town. You need to let them know whose town this is. Give me your 10 baby," Willow said and smirked.

"Oh, you don't know what it does to me, when you call me baby," Spike said sarcastically and threw the card towards her.

"I know that. But it still doesn't change the fact that their are only a few of us and a lot of them," Buffy argued.

Willow grabbed the card off the table and looked him straight in the eye. "I think you have my 5, kind sir," she said and smiled sweetly.

Spike stared at her angrily and slid the card across the table, not taking his eyes off of her.

Willow reached out to grabbed the card, but his hand grabbed her and pulled her forward as he leaned forward. Willow's eyes widened in fear as his eyes began to glow yellow.

"I am going to win next time," he whispered.

Willow glared at him and pulled way. "Not on your life, dead boy."

~~~~~

"How did I get dragged into this?" Spike asked in almost a whine.

"You were the one that said I needed to show them who is boss," Buffy reminded him.

"But that didn't include me coming out here endangering my life. I can't even kill the bloody bastards!" he yelled angrily.

"Stop your whining. You know you wanted to be out here to give them a good beating anyway," Willow told him.

Spike frowned but didn't respond to her remark. "So what do we do then?"

"We hunt," Buffy told him as she continued to scan the grounds.

"We hunt!" he exclaimed. "Not only do you have me out here in the open for these poofs to catch me, but you also have me out here killing my own kind!"

"Well, you're the one that said you needed a good kill," Buffy told him angrily. "And will you shut up before you let everyone know we're here! There going to have that whole damn initiative after us."

Spike grumbled to himself stopped the arguing.

"How do you know they'll show?" Willow asked. Buffy said she had a plan and she knew some of them would. Buffy hadn't wanted her to come, but she had insisted, and Buffy relented after a little pleading.

"Because," Buffy smiled gleefully. "They'll see Spike and they'll come a running.'"

Spike stopped and gaped. After he recovered he growled. "You have me set up as the bait!"

"I guess he hasn't as dumb as they say," Buffy said to Willow. "Look Spike, we're not going to let them take you. I want to be able to kill you. Not them."

"Well, that's comforting," he grumbled.

"You think it will work?" Willow asked.

"Yeah. One will see us with a vampire and that vampire just happens to be the one that got away from them. So he'll call 'her,' and then they'll come like good little doggies." At least, that's what was supposed to happen. Once they got there though she wasn't sure what was going to happen.

~~~~~

"I'm sending reinforcements."

"How many, sir?" the figure behind the bush asked quietly.

"Enough to bring all three of them in. Use extreme caution. This is not a matter to be taken lightly," Prof. Walsh told him. "Out." She faced the others. "Two teams to assist Agent Culver."

The men jogged out, quickly. She turned to the team still standing there. "You go too." She was going to be sure she got all three of them in.

Forest turned to look at his friend. When this got to Riley, he was going to be very unhappy.

~~~~~~

"Stop."

"You were right, Buffy," Willow said fearfully as an army of guys surrounded them.

"Can anyone say overkill?" Buffy asked and scoffed.

"Overkill? Never," Spike answered.

"Team one, take the vampire. Team two, take the humans," Agent Culver ordered.

"So this is where we fight back, right?" Willow asked as she began to back up towards Buffy and Spike.

"Yeah, I think so," Buffy said and nodded as she took a fighting stance and laid a kick in the closest agents stomach.

"It's about time," Spike said and vamped out.

Willow winced as two agents grabbed her. This was harder then fighting vampire. You couldn't kill them or protect yourselves from them. And she wasn't as advanced in the fighting area as Buffy and Spike. She gritted her teeth together and concentrated moments later and invisible force pushed the two agents back and toppling to the ground.

"Oh shit," Willow cursed as more rushed towards her. She had barely been able to pull that off. "Buffy!" Willow screamed as they began to pull her off. She couldn't even concentrate enough to do as she had done before.

"Willow!" Buffy yelled as her eyes laid on her distancing friend. But she couldn't help her. "Spike!"

Spike golden eyes flew to Buffy.

"Willow!" Buffy yelled to him.

Spike looked around for Willow and found her fighting a losing battle with three agents who were easily taking her towards some unknown destination. He growled and threw the humans off of him. Spike ran in the direction that Willow was being taken in, but it was no use. He was bombarded. "Willow!" he growled out as she continued to scream.

~~~~~~

Willow glared at the men in white lab coats staring at her.

"Miss Rosenberg, how surprising to see you here."

Willow turned at the voice. "Professor Walsh?" Willow asked confused. She quickly covered the emotions on her face. No one was who they seemed to be. That she had learned well.

"Yes, Professor Walsh. Now that I answered your question, I have a few to ask you," she said and sat down in a chair in front of Willow.

"Where are my friends?" Willow asked.

"Your friends. Now that leads to an interesting set of question. A vampire is your friend?" Prof. Walsh asked and paused. But she got no response.

Willow ignored the questions and ignore the stares of the white coated men as she continued to tell herself to be brave. Hopefully Spike and Buffy got away. They were stronger then her. They would be able to get away. And then they would be able to rescue her. Hopefully.

~~~~~~

Part 4

"Where are they?" Willow repeated. Those were the only three words Willow had spoken throughout her questioning.

Prof. Walsh paused as the girl repeated the question. She knew a lot more than she was giving. She turned to one of the men and nodded.

Willow watched cautiously as the man retreated out the room. She sat there quietly while Prof. Walsh continued to sit and take down notes. Moments later the door opened.

"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed as her friend was lead into the room with some sort of handcuffs on.

"Willow!" Buffy yelled. She turned towards one of the agents holding her and watched him cautiously as he led her to a chair next to Willow and sat her down. "Professor Walsh. I guess, I now know who is in charge of this operation."

"This 'operation' as you call it saves more lives then you could believe," Prof. Walsh responded. The girl had no respect for their cause.

Buffy's eyes widened. Seconds later, her laugh filled the room.

Willow tried to control her own laugh at Buffy's behavior and Prof. Walsh's words. But she couldn't contain a little snort.

Once Buffy quieted down, her disposition changed and she was serious. "You have saved more lives than I could believe? Give me a break." Buffy sat back as much as she could with her hands cuffed behind her back. "Where is Spike?"

"Why?" Prof. Walsh asked calmly.

"Because I asked. That's why," Buffy told her.

Prof. Walsh frowned. Neither one where giving up any information. "Why do you care where he is?"

"Although it is my job to kill vampires, I would rather not leave him in your hands," Buffy told her smoothly.

"Your job? And who are you employed by?" Prof. Walsh asked curiously.

Buffy lost it. She couldn't control the laughter that escaped her mouth. She vaguely heard a laugh escape Willow's lips as her own surrounded her. Once Buffy regained her composure, she turned to Willow. "Is she serious?"

"I think so. I don't think she's heard the whole "chosen one" speech before," Willow told her.

"Ah," Buffy said in understanding. "Well, I don't remember it."

"Me neither," Willow said and shrugged.

"Well, I think it would be in your best interest to tell us if you want to get out of here," Prof. Walsh threatened.

Willow would swear to that day that she could see a vain bulging on Buffy's forehead. But she didn't have long enough to look.

Buffy grounded her teeth together and yanked her arms together and a snap of metal echoed on the walls. She jumped up and grabbed Prof. Walsh by the neck and slammed her into the wall. "I don't think so," Buffy paid little attention to the men in white jackets calling for back up. Soon some more army guys entered. She continued to hold Prof. Walsh against the wall with one hand while one of them charged her and she laid all her strength in a hard punch knocking him across the room.

Willow backed up against the wall as yet another one stalked towards her. She turned towards Buffy hoping she would help her. "Buffy."

"My hands are full at the moment. Do your little witchy thing," Buffy told her as she kicked an oncoming agent.

Willow glared at Buffy announcing her position to the whole room. But it wouldn't matter in a few moments anyway. Willow winced as yet again she was grabbed roughly. "You, you, you rat!" she yelled. Her eyes glowed as a silver light swam around him and he shrunk to the ground. Willow looked down and the squeaking animal. "Oops."

"Willow!" Buffy exclaimed as she held another agent off.

Willow bit her lip. "Sorry."

"Am I late?"

"Spike!" Willow exclaimed.

Spike's eyes traveled down the to rat crawling on the floor. "Your work?"

Willow nodded.

Spike nodded sympathetically at the rat. He looked back up at the oncoming agents and let his vamp face slide on.

~~~~~

"Riley, hurry up," Forest said and quickened his pace through the secret underground.

"Forest, what the hell is going on here?" Riley asked, out of breath.

"Prof. Walsh got them," Forest admitted.

"Who?" Riley asked confused as he caught up with Forest.

"Buffy and her friend. And somehow that escaped vampire got mixed up into it," Forest told him.

"Where are they?" Riley asked firmly.

Forest looked at him for a moment, then led him in the direction where they were being held.

~~~~~

"What the hell?" Riley asked as they rounded a corner and yelling could be heard. He turned to look at Forest, then took off running down the hall. He ran into the room and found three rats running around the floors, Prof. Walsh held up against the wall by Buffy while she continued to fight off his fellow agents, and the vampire knocking an agent away from Willow.

"Stop!!!!!" Riley yelled.

Buffy turned at the sound of the familiar voice. All movement seemed to halt except for the running around of little rats.

"What happened?" he asked.

"It seems your friends decided it would be a wise decision to take us in," Spike growled out angrily.

Buffy released Prof. Walsh and stepped over to where Spike and Willow stood. "Wasn't exactly wise," Buffy said. Her eyes widened as she felt something on her foot. "Uh!" she yelled and kicked it lightly across the floor. "Willow?"

"Oh, sorry. Um okay, well. I said rat. So um don't be rats anymore." Willows eyes widened happily as the rats enlarged into men laying on the floor. She smiled happily. "Look! I did it!"

Buffy patted Willow on the back. "Good job. You can fix Amy when we get home." Buffy turned to where the other side had congregated. "And we will be going home. All three of us. "

"I don't think that will be possible. Especially now," Prof. Walsh told them.

Spike growled angrily and was prepared to begin fighting again.

"You, you, you-" Willow began but Buffy's hand quickly covered her mouth.

Buffy shook her head. "Not just yet, Willow."

"Buffy, just tell them," Riley said exasperated.

"What?!?!" Buffy exclaimed.

"If they let you go," Riley said and turned to look at Prof. Walsh.

"If she tells us the whole truth, then we will let them go," Prof. Walsh relented.

Buffy eyed them all up. "Fine. But if you don't, you're going to have a problem."

"And I'll turn you all into fish," Willow said decidedly.

Buffy turned to Willow giving her an odd look. She picked up a chair that laid on the floor and sat down. "I think you should have a seat."

~~~~~

"All right, so who knows it?" Buffy asked.

"What?" Spike asked from his unrealized hovering position over Willow.

"You know. THE speech all about me," she reminded him. They had after all just had this conversation.

"Look, I work for the other side. I don't know."

Willow sighed and relented. "I know it. As long as there have been demons, there has been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen one, born with the strength and skill to hunt vampires and other deadly creatures, to find them where they gather and to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. When one Slayer dies, the next is called and trained by the Watcher."

Buffy's eyes widened. "I had meant the 'For every generation' one."

Willow frowned. "In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the Vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer."

"Jeez, Will. When did you learn all of this?" Buffy asked amazed.

"And you are the slayer?" Prof. Walsh asked with a tone that showed she could careless.

"Yes. This is my job. I hunt and kill vampires and demons. I was chosen. And when I die, another will be chosen," Buffy told her.

"And you expect me to believe this?"

"Look, lady whether you believe it or not, she is, unfortunately a slayer," Spike told the stupid women.

"And you help her, even though she should kill you?" she asked him unbelievably.

"Because he has no choice," Willow said angrily. "He can't survive on his own anymore."

"And you are what?" Prof. Walsh asked.

Willow said up straight. "Wiccan," she told them.

"You're what?" Prof. Walsh asked like it was the least important thing in the world.

"She's a bloody witch. Stupid human," he mumbled.

"A witch?" Riley repeated. He didn't know that one.

"Yeah. Broomsticks, pointed hats, and all." Spike said angrily. "Didn't you see her twitch her nose and turn your little friends into rats?"

Willow looked up at him.

"Look, I watch TV. There isn't much to do during the day," he said and shrugged.

"Look, this is what I do. This is what I was born to do. This is what my body is built to do. You can't stop me. You kill me. Then they'll be another. Your little group of scientific agents and men is white coats capturing demons and performing tests on them are not going to come along a stop something that has been going on for centuries," Buffy told her smoothly.

"Nice speech," Spike admitted.

Buffy shrugged. "I try." She stood up from her chair. "We are leaving now. You try and stop us we are going to be in the same position we were in earlier."

Riley stepped towards Buffy before Prof. Walsh could respond. "Lets go," he told her softly and led her out.

Buffy gave the women one last glare before walking out.

~~~~~~

"Do you think they'll leave us alone, now?" Willow asked as they walked towards Giles' house. Buffy and Riley walked ahead of her and Spike in deep conversation.

"They better," Spike said certainly.

Willow yawned. As soon as they had stepped out into the night air, a feeling of drowsiness set over her. She wasn't going to last much longer.

"Pet, don't fall asleep on the way there. I'm not in the mood to have to carry you back," Spike told her.

Willow smiled softly. Of course, he said it with his usual angry attitude. But he wasn't angry. Although somewhere in her mind, most likely from the lack of sleep, she wished she would fall asleep so that he would have to carry her back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To be continued.....