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Chapter 37
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It was the eyes. Buffy might not have total recall of everything about Spike; she admitted to herself that she often chose not to really see him. It was safer for her heart that way, easier for her security. It wasn’t too hard being the Sheriff of Black & White World. Being Point-n-Stake Buffy had helped make her the longest lived Slayer in history…thus far. Still, she hadn’t been completely blind to Spike. Who could?

There were moments frozen in time that she could see as clearly as when they had happened. One was Spike hitting the invisible barrier newly replaced after years of free access, the magic barrier she desperately had Willow and Tara place to protect her heart and home from Spike and his love.

Funny, she hadn’t even waited to ask her friends to do the spell until she had spoken to him, confronted him. All it had taken was his awkward declaration of love. His real offense--chaining and threatening her-- happened as the spell was being done! She had never really feared his intention to kill her, but the idea he could truly love her terrified her to the core.

His eyes as he mouthed a silent "please" at that moment came to haunt Buffy in the year after the closing of the Hellmouth. All the hurt, confused desperation he was able to show with a simple look lingered in her mind.

She could call to mind Spike in chains easily. He was so often in chains those last few years, some of them placed on him by her. She could see him in her basement now, eyes pleading with her to make it quick and stake him for the greater good. His terror that, if she let him live, he would hurt or kill someone he loved shone in those eyes as he begged for release.

Finally, Buffy’s memories led her to the basement of the high school on that last dreadful day. Those eyes had begged Buffy to turn and leave him to his fate. The look offered her the freedom and life she craved while pleading with her to know the depth of his devotion and love, the willingness of his sacrifice.

No one had eyes that spoke as clearly as Spike’s.

Buffy had time to think about these things when "Giles "and the "young slayer" had gone to "scout about this dimension". Eduardo was in hiding and "Giles" wanted to be certain the Immortal would not be free to cause any more harm to Buffy.

The vampire with the pleading eyes still hung from the manacles in the next room. He hadn’t made a sound since his attempt to get Buffy to trust him and turn on Giles, claiming all was not as it seemed. Buffy couldn’t figure out where Eduardo had found a vampire that looked so much like Spike. It made no sense. The odds of finding anyone, vampire or not, who looked identical to Spike were high. Add to that someone with the speaking eyes of Spike…well, it just seemed impossible to Buffy.

The more she thought about it, the less it seemed possible that it wasn’t Spike hanging there mute in the room next door. Sure, he’d died…dusted…but Buffy herself had died twice and was still here to tell of it. If Buffy looked at it that way, it was more abnormal for Spike not to return than it would be for him to be right next door at this moment.

Her heart began to pound and adrenaline caused her skin to feel as if ants were marching up and down her body. Every instinct she had screamed for her to fly to the next room and release the vampire she felt strongly was Spike, no matter what her Watcher said. If Spike were alive, no power on earth would keep her from coming to his aid.

Buffy felt a surge of confidence in her newly formed decision. After all, the decisions she made based on her tinglies had never steered her wrong in the past. She couldn’t allow Giles to undermine her confidence again. He hadn’t tried that since the Hellmouth and she wouldn’t give him that control again now.

~~~

The stream of red-robed, tattooed demons pouring from the janitor’s closet took Giles by surprise. He hadn’t expected Spike and Buffy to return just yet, but he wasn’t happy to see what could only be the Senior Partner’s army of minions coming into his dimension. It clearly meant that the element of surprise had been lost in some way. Beyond that portal, Spike might well be dust already. Obviously the Senior Partners still lived and were in firm control.

Giles fled to the window and gave the signal to the back-up team waiting yet dreading the call to arms. Angel’s return signal let Giles know they were on the move and would soon join him there in the small, "sleepy" hotel.

"You are of the Council", the demon said as a statement, not a question. "Your traitorous halfbreed is defeated." Grigork, head of the Partner’s army, looked at the scholarly looking Watcher with disdain. If this was the best back-up the vampire could muster, the Partners had nothing to fear. This Watcher might defeat them in a spelling bee, but surely he was no match in a real battle.

"So…Spike is dust again. Well, that never seems to prevent him from coming back for Buffy, so I would expect you’ll be needed by your masters back in your own world very soon. He has quite a volatile temper and won’t be pleased to have his rescue interrupted by the likes of you." Giles hoped to taunt more information from the tall, glowering demon.

"Not dust, at least not when I left him hanging from the ceiling a short while ago. I am certain that my Lord is finishing with him as we speak," Grigork replied. He failed to see the spark of hope his admission lit in Giles’ eyes. While Spike still
lived, so did hope.

"Ah, yes, Spike in chains, undergoing torture no doubt. That is an overused cliché at best. I rather think Spike might even secretly enjoy it a bit as often as he has found himself in that situation. Makes for more of a challenge, adds a bit of spice. He was never one to glory in an easy kill. Your master most likely has his hands full right now. Perhaps you’d best run along back to lend a hand while you still have one." The demon failed to notice the shades of Ripper that had begun to show in the Watcher’s face.

"Senor, alto! Necesitamos un policia!" The harried Senora Gomez was yelling to Angel to stop in the lobby even as she placed a call to the local police to report the strange invasion of her employer’s normally peaceful hotel.

Illyria tilted her head and looked toward the frightened woman, finally deciding that whoever this human was summoning would be a hindrance to their battle plans. The blue-tinged god took matters into her own deceptively delicate hands and knocked the unfortunate clerk unconscious while pulling the phone cord from the wall.

As Angel’s team moved into position throughout the Hotel, the demon monks met them on the stairwell. Giles had already engaged Grigork in battle, surprising the demon with his ability to wield a sword, instead of merely being able to spell it correctly. If the tattooed minion lived, he would learn the valuable lesson that one could not judge a book by its cover.

Angel was using a small hand axe to beat back two larger, robed demons while Connor took on yet another, fighting back-to-back with his father.

Several of the demons saw the group of warriors there to meet them and leapt from the stairwell to the lobby below to avoid the vampire and his son, who were battling on the stairs proper.

Wood had his group of Naomi, Min-Nga and Caridad near the door to keep the battle contained within the hotel. The plan was to draw as little attention as possible to the supernatural events taking place in the midst of the commonplace.

Faith’s team was already engaged in the battle with those demons that had made it to the lobby. Nina was proving skillful, even in her human guise, as she neatly lopped off the head of one robed demon and danced away from the approaching blade of another.

Talisha had fallen to the attack of the two largest minions who managed to get past Faith. Vi saw the young slayer fall and launched herself onto the back of one of the two demons, using a hunting knife to slice the minion’s throat.

Illyria entered the fray and quickly took out the other murdering demon that had killed one of their number. The demon god had not deigned to converse with the fallen slayer but would always admire power and strength. The girl had died well.

In a short time, all of Angel’s team were actively engaged in battle.

Giles managed to fight Grigork out into the hallway and herd him toward the stairwell and Angel. The demon had taken several blows, as had Giles. In fact, Giles looked far worse than he actually was with his face bloody from surface cuts. So far neither combatant had bested the other.

There was a flash of light as Willow teleported to her position behind Giles. She had been observing the battle from her position at the command post. Her job was to ensure no other demons spilled out of the dimensional portal to join in the battle.

Xander, Andrew, and Dawn were impatiently waiting at the command post to make sure there was a next line of defense if the battle were lost to Angel’s team.

As the battle began to look contained, Wood sent Caridad and Naomi back to report to Xander and await word there about the outcome.

"Don’t let any of these bastards get back through the door to report!" Angel shouted his order to Willow, even though it was clear the witch had no intention of
allowing any such thing.

When the dust settled, the rescuers had lost only one girl and managed to decimate the minions sent to slay them. Giles insisted they keep Grigork alive for
questioning and that demon alone survived the battle.

Giles told the group of Grigork’s taunt and it was decided that the demon would be taken back to the command post by Angel so that Willow could use a truth spell to get all the information possible from him.

"I still think we should sent part of the team in there, Giles. Obviously, Spike has blown it in some way and we can’t just wait around for Buffy to stroll out of there on her own. The Partners are still in operation and let’s not forget Eduardo while we’re at it." Angel was chomping at the bit to enter the other dimension and save the day.

"No! The Oracle was quite clear that the battle was to be fought by one souled vampire alone and that vampire is Spike. We have no idea what sort of disaster we might inadvertently create if we defy prophecy!" Giles was still wiping blood from his face and hands as he argued with Angel over the vampire’s desire to change the plan.

"We changed prophecy lots of times in the past. Buffy was supposed to die when she went up against the Master, but we changed that. I don’t see why you’re so insistent on obeying some old words on a scroll you haven’t even seen just because some oracle with a fancy orb says so." Angel was becoming petulant.

"True, Buffy was revived, but it also split the Slayer line for the first time. Now, I do not in any way regret the actions that saved Buffy, or the calling of a second Slayer, but one must be very careful when dealing with actual prophecy. Angel, you tried to precipitate the apocalypse that you believed would lead to your reward of Shanshu and we are even now cleaning up the mess left from that decision!"
Giles said in frustration.

"That is not what I was doing! I signed away my claim to the damned reward anyway. I was trying to hit them where it hurt and make a difference, that’s all." Angel refused to look Giles in the eyes as he spoke.

"Yes, and we all know how one can simply sign away a reward from The Powers that has been part of prophecy for millennia. I dare say the Shanshu shall be given to whomever the Powers intended it to be given and nothing you could do, say, or sign can alter that. The fact remains that you once again started an apocalypse that you later will take credit for stopping. I have not forgotten Acathla, Angel, or the events that led to that heartbreak for Buffy." Giles shook his head and sighed, wondering if Angel really didn’t see the similarities or if he was merely being stubborn.

"You made choices, Angel…Bad ones, in my opinion. As Angelus, you decided to end the world and necessitated Buffy sending you to hell to stop what you started. This time you decided to hurry up the final battle, get it over with once and for all. You were in full control of your soul with that decision. You do realize that you put all of your friends in an untenable position with that decision, do you not?
They were faced with the choice of watching you march off to your doom alone or standing by you to try to help as best they could. It was a suicide mission at
best, really, and for what? No, my decision stands. You may have started this little war, but we shall be fighting it under my command. Spike shall play out his part and we will continue as planned." Giles poked his finger on Angel’s chest in emphasis.

Angel began to argue once again, only to hear the soft voice of his son taking sides against him. "Dad, I think maybe we should follow orders, don’t you? If Spike is still alive in there, he’s managed to rattle them enough to send out these guys. That’s of the good, huh? We need to be patient. Everyone knows you’re just worried about Buffy, but I think it’s too soon to start changing the plan. You’re already a
hero, dad. No one can take what’s yours away from you, just like Mr. Giles said. Guess I got my hot head from you, huh?"

Angel looked blankly at his son for a moment before he smiled fondly and hugged Connor. "Yeah, you got the family temper, that’s for sure. You’ve managed to get
it tamed lately though. Maybe you can teach your old dad a trick or two while we wait for the Bleached Wonder to save the day."

~~~

Buffy grew tired of waiting for Giles’ return to state her case for trusting Spike. "I was always more Action Buffy anyway," she reminded herself. She was glad her legs were back to normal and not screaming at her for using them again. Her head felt clearer than it had in a long while, too.

She crept to the room next door and saw that there was only the too familiar sight of Spike dangling from chains to greet her.

"Spike! Spike! Look, I’ve decided to trust you ARE Spike, and, boy, do you have some explaining to do, mister! Talk to me, Spike!" Buffy could see that the
vampire was alert, even if he said not a word. Again his eyes spoke to her, this time filling with gratitude. She didn’t need to hear the "thank you for believing in me" to have it clearly said. "You’re welcome, Spike. Of course I believe in you. Told you that a long time ago, remember?"