~*~*~*~


“Spike!” Leanna yelled as she ran up to them. “Spike!” She quickly caught up to him, but he didn’t stop. The others trailed behind, breathing unnecessarily in a dramatic display of exhaustion.


“I don’t have time for this, Leanna,” Spike ground out, mind set on one thing: Buffy.


Grabbing his free arm tightly, she yanked him around to face her. “It’s about Buffy, you idiot,” she stated with an annoyed voice.


Spike growled, eyes flashing yellow as he stepped closer to her and gripped her arm fiercely, while his other one held onto the axe, “What about Buffy?”


Leanna looked at where his arms gripped her, a pissed expression on her face. She pushed him off roughly and spat out, “Maybe you shouldn’t man handle the people who are trying to help.” She turned to walk away angrily, but Spike suddenly appeared in front of her.


“What. Do. You. Know.” Spike’s fists were clenched, his patience running very low.


Crossing her arms over her chest, Leanna put on a bitchy expression. “I was going to tell you that she’s in trouble, but since you’re being such a jackass, I’ll just let your little lover bunny get gutted into pieces,” she finished with a cold look in her eyes.


Her words made his stomach churn and he had to fight the intense anger that ran through his whole body. He rotated his neck in a tense motion, and clenched his jaw to hold himself back from lashing out at her.



In the background, Anya turned to Xander with a concerned look, “Why would she call Buffy a bunny? Why?? Why would she do that?”


Xander made soothing noises, trying to hush his worried girlfriend.


Emotions in control, Spike opened his eyes to look back at Leanna. His voice tight, but calmer, he said, “I’m sorry. Just tell me what you know.”


Leanna faked an indecisive expression, looking away from Spike as if considering whether to forgive him or not. The rest of the gang just rolled their eyes at her display. She sighed dramatically and relented, “I saw these guys ambush her when I was patrolling in the cemetery.”


“Did you see where they went?” Spike’s voice was impatient and urgent.


“I tried to run after them, but I lost them in the woods,” she explained. “And you better appreciate my effort because there are twigs all over my hair.”


“I don’t see anything,” Xander commented with a confused look.


“Well there were. Look, see,” Leanna added as she plucked an imaginary twig out of her hair and let it all to the ground.


“What? I don’t see any-,” Xander began.


“Oh who bloody cares!?” Spike yelled.


“Xander, shh,” Willow admonished with a whisper. He put up his hands defensively and shrugged, as if asking what he did wrong.


“Did you see anything else?” Spike asked tersely.


“No.”


“Alright, let’s go then. You can show us in which neck of the woods they went,” he stated, beginning to turn around and expecting them to follow.


When Leanna didn’t move, he stopped and turned around with an annoyed expression. “What?”


She rolled her eyes in disgust. “Why do *I* have to go? I hate the bitch, remember? You should give me a freakin’ medal for caring enough to tell you.”


“Leanna…,” Spike said in a warning voice.


She remained stubborn a minute, before exclaiming, “Oh alright! God! I’ll help you find the shrew.”


“Great, Leanna’s coming. It’ll be a class field trip,” Xander said sarcastically as they all began to walk toward the woods again.



Leanna walked next to Spike, a secret smirk on her face that no one saw.



Tara remained quiet, an uneasy feeling had washed over her ever since Leanna showed up with her news.


~


“Which way are we going?” Willow asked as the group approached the beginning of the caves.


“That way.” Leanna pointed to the right.


“Are you sure?” Tara asked tentatively, a worried look on her face. Something wasn’t right.


Leanna rolled her eyes. “Yes, I’m sure. I saw them turn right and I was chasing them for a little while, but I couldn’t find where they disappeared to – they must have turned into an entrance I don’t know about.”


“You’re positive?” Spike pressed.


“You know what?? Go wherever the hell you want. It’s obvious no one thinks I’m smart enough to remember which direction I ran in!” Leanna exploded, her eyes shining with anger.


“I don’t have time for your bloody outbursts, Leanna,” Spike warned in a low voice.


The two were glaring at each other, and the others backed up in response. Tara’s eyes flickered back and forth between them, deciding to intervene lest they waste more time while Buffy was still in danger. “W-Why don’t we go right first and make our way over?”


“If we want to save Buffy, you two are going to need to cool it,” Xander reprimanded.


Spike and Leanna remained glaring at each other, and Leanna crossed her arms and raised her brow, challenging him.


“Let’s just go,” Spike’s voice was tight with anger.


After a last glare, she spat out in agreement, “Fine.” She stormed past him to lead the way.


Little did they know that on the inside, she was anything but angry. ‘This is so easy,’ she thought to herself happily. ‘Soon, the bitch will be dead.’


~


They wandered the caves, listening to the dead silence. Once in a while, they heard a rat scurry across the floor.


Spike didn’t have a good feeling. He was sensing that they were heading in the wrong direction. He furrowed his brow, looking at the ‘fork in the road.’ “I think we should go to the left.”


“Well, I think we should go to the right,” Leanna opposed.


Spike looked irritated. “How about you go to the right and I’ll go left?”


“How about I go home?” Leanna snapped.


“Look,” he exasperated, “I just have a feeling that she’s this way, ok?”


Leanna raised her brow, “You have a feeling?”


“Well, probably the clai-,” Xander opened his mouth before thinking. He didn’t finish his sentence, looking caught, his mouth still open. Spike shot him a deadly glare.


Leanna’s eyes widened in fury as she realized what Xander was about to say. “WHAT!? You CLAIMED her??”


Knowing it was useless, Spike exhaled. “Bollocks.” He turned to Xander again and gritted out, “I’m going to bloody kill you later.”


Xander laughed nervously and stepped back. Anya rubbed her hand on his back comfortingly, “I’m gonna miss you.”


Tara and Willow gave Xander a sad smile, making him gulp.


“Well??” Leanna badgered. “How could you?? A human for God’s sake! That is SO sick!” She yelled out in anger, hands fisted at her side.


“It’s really none of your bloody business, Leanna,” Spike snapped. “Can I hear you rant about this later? I have something more important to do right now.”


She moved her head back, as if he hit her. Narrowing her eyes, she replied coldly, “Fine. You go that way, I’ll go my way.” She stormed off, and the others visibly relaxed.


Spike stretched out his neck. All Leanna ever did these days was make him tense.


“Let’s go find Buffy,” Tara said softly, putting her hand on his arm gently, and snapping him out of his daydreams of strangling the chit.


At her soft tone, he closed his eyes as worry overtook his expression. If he didn’t get to Buffy in time, he would never be able to forgive himself.


~


‘Shit,’ Leanna thought to herself. She didn’t know that Spike had been love-whipped enough to claim Buffy, and now that would probably make it easier for him to find her. She wanted to lead them astray and then ditch them, but now it looked like her task had just gotten harder. She hurriedly worked her way through the caves, hoping to find her way back to the gem and the slayer before the others did.


~


Back in the cave, Buffy’s mind was reeling with angry thoughts. ‘That stupid little ho bag of a bitch! I KNEW she was evil!!’ She pulled on the chains, desperately wanting to get free and somehow kick Leanna’s ass. The blinding headache would be well worth it.


And then the devil herself appeared. There Leanna was, standing in the entrance way. She smirked as she crossed the force field, her features changing into Kerala, from blonde to black hair, from light skin to dark - but her grey eyes still showed the same ill intent.


“I knew you were evil,” Buffy gritted out, wanting nothing more than to snap her head off, no matter what form Leanna took.


“Then why are you here chained to a wall?” Kerala asked arrogantly. She stalked over to Buffy, hands behind her back.


Buffy eyed her arms, seeing she had something back there.


Bringing her hands to the front, Kerala held the knife up for Buffy to see. “Remember this?” she asked with a smirk.


Looking confused, Buffy tried to recall any recollection of the knife in front of her. It had a silver handle with intricate etchings on it, reminding her of…


Buffy’s eyes widened. “You bitch!” she exclaimed incredulously. “That’s the knife Drusilla stabbed me with!”


“Who do you think gave it to her?” Kerala rolled her eyes at the slayer’s stupidity.


“When I get my hands on you,” she gritted out, shaking her head slowly in anger.


Moving closer, she stopped mere inches away from Buffy’s reach. “You’re not going anywhere. And it’s time to have some fun,” she declared with a calculating look as she brought the knife closer slowly.


Feeling real fear, Buffy felt utterly alone.


~


“This way,” Spike said. “I think I feel her a little more.”


“It’s not a claim, alright,” Xander muttered under his breath.


Spike growled deep in his throat, causing Xander to look away and pretend he didn’t say anything. Catching a whiff of something in the air, Spike halted in his steps and suddenly vamped, a concentrated frown on his face.


“What is it?” Willow asked as the rest of them vamped out as well. As the faint scent reached their noses, their eyes widened and they looked over to Spike with concern.


Buffy’s blood.


Letting out a low guttural growl, he dashed off towards where the smell was coming from. His mind went into overdrive, thoughts jumbling together, but his body did nothing but run at full speed through the tunnels to save her.


Images of her, of them together flashed through his mind, and nothing seemed more important than getting her back. They way he treated her, slammed the door in her face – it all sent a flood of guilt through his body.


Coming to an open area, he stopped, not sure which of the three paths he should go down. He tried to hone in on his senses, but then he heard a pained scream.


‘Buffy.’ He quickly ran left, and prayed it wasn’t too late. If he were alive, his heart would be beating uncontrollably. The worry was eating him up, worse than ever before, because he knew that this could be it. He could lose her forever.


Finally reaching the entrance, he saw a dark-haired woman holding a knife against Buffy’s skin, her blood trickling down her arm. Spike roared in anger as his eyes flashed yellow, jumping through the force field and ignoring the weird sensation that coursed through him as he did so.


With no time to think about it, he ran forward, bringing the axe up in the air, determined to slash the bitch in half. As it came down, she whipped around and caught it in her hands expertly, dropping the knife she held.


“I don’t think so. I’m not that easy,” she smirked.


“Who the fuck are you?” he ground out, pulling the axe away violently and taking a step back, ready to strike at her again.
.

“Spike, it’s Leanna!” Buffy exclaimed.


A confused expression took over his features as he looked to Buffy for understanding. His eyes softened, distracted by the painful sight of Buffy chained to the wall with blood running down her arm.


Kerala smiled evilly, already having picked up the knife when he was distracted, and she lunged forward with it.


“Spike!” Buffy yelled in warning. He jumped back to the side automatically, avoiding the tip of the blade by a short hair.


He gave her a challenging look. Whoever she was, he was going to kick her ass. Spike lunged forward with a yell, determined to make her pay.


~


The others found the entrance, witnessing Spike’s fight and seeing Buffy in chains with blood flowing down her arm. They ran through the force field without seeing it, and a draining feeling coursed through them as their vamp features faded away.


Xander held his arms in front of him, examining himself. “What just happened?” he looked worried.


Anya was opening and closing her mouth, forehead scrunched in concentration. She stopped and turned to the group. “Why can’t I vamp?” she asked in a panicked tone.


They all concentrated and tried, to no avail. And then their eyes widened as they looked at each other.


“Uh guys?” Xander started nervously, “Why do I have a heartbeat?”


“Me too! Me too!” Anya cried frantically.


Anya put her hand on Xander’s chest over his heart, and Xander put his hand over hers. Willow and Tara did the same, expressions showing their shock. Looking worried, Willow turned to look at the entrance. She realized that in their hurry, they had failed to see what was there.


“Guys, there’s a force field of some kind,” she explained with a frown.


“Maybe it makes everyone human?” Tara offered weakly, a puzzled look on her face.


“Well look at Spike,” Xander pointed out. They turned to look at his vamped features, still battling it out, and apparently, losing. Kerala let out a harsh backhand that sent him crashing against the wall of the cave.


“Hello? Can you guys grope each other later? I need a little help here!” Buffy called out from the other side, not knowing what they were talking about but seeing them touch each other’s chests a few minutes ago.


“Right, sorry!” Willow called out to Buffy. She turned back to the others and said, “We’ll go. You guys help Spike.” Xander and Anya nodded, running over to the black-haired woman.


“A-Are you ok?” Tara asked as they approached her.


“Peachy. Can you get me out of these?” Buffy asked hopefully, pulling at the chains.


They brought their weapons up, hoping to cut the chains with one fierce swing. As they brought it down, it clanked against the chains and didn’t even make a dent. Their attempt was weak, and they looked at each other with a frown while Buffy had a confused expression on her face.


“What’s wrong? That was just pitiful,” Buffy frowned.


“There’s some kind of barrier over there that just, um, took our vampire strength and, uh…made us human?” Willow explained weakly.


“What!?” Buffy exclaimed, eyes widening. That couldn’t be right. “But Spike,” she began, as she looked over to his vamped face. She stopped herself, realization dawning on her.


The gang’s sudden humanness and Spike’s continuing vampy-ness. It all meant one thing – the cave must have the same properties as back home. The chip was gone.


A look of renewed hope crossed her face, and she turned to them with a determined smirk. “Get me out of these chains. It’s time to kick some ass.”


Chanting something, Willow waved her hands over the chains and they clicked open, freeing Buffy’s wrists.

Buffy rubbed them in relief as she muttered, “…bitch tied me up…”


At that moment, a small Indian guy appeared. He was slightly hunched over, adorned in a robe. Putting his hands up, he began to chant something in Hindi.


Willow and Tara whipped around at the feeling of magic forces tugging on them. Willow’s eyes turned angry and she put up her hand, beginning to chant in Latin and combating his magic.


Tara turned to Buffy, “Go. We’ll take care of this.” She turned back and joined in, chanting with Willow to combat the invisible force that was trying to steal their energy.


Buffy nodded, eyeing the magical exchange one last time before running to help Spike. She eyed Xander and Anya in the corner, getting up from Kerala’s harsh blows, but Spike was still fighting and had lost the upper hand.


“Hey, bitch!” Buffy called, coming up behind Kerala, “Get your skanky hands off of him.”


Kerala turned around, looking pissed, and Spike collected himself, wiping the trickle of blood away from the corner of his mouth.


“Why won’t you ever just stay put?” Kerala yelled out in frustration, throwing her hands up in the air.


“Because I just realized something, Leanna,” Buffy smirked as she put her hands on her hips.


“That I’m going to kill you?” Kerala offered with a raised brow.


“No, that I can do…,” she didn’t finish as she spun her body around to deliver a fierce roundhouse kick. Kerala flew back, hitting the wall with a crack. She looked up in shocked anger.


“…that,” Buffy finished with a victorious smile. It felt good to be back.


~*~*~*~