CHAPTER EIGHT
 
Throwing a withering glare at Riley, Buffy got up and followed Dawn into the training room. Giles and the Scoobies all stared at Riley. 
 
“What? That makes perfect sense, and you know it.”
 
“Riley, the Key is not an object. It is a person. A human being. Buffy’s calling and her training would not allow her to sacrifice anyone, let alone—” He stopped, realizing that Riley hadn’t been in the room when they told the others about Dawn. His expression softened as he added, “There are some extenuating circumstances that make it out of the question for Buffy to even consider that option.”
 
“But you’d consider it, wouldn’t you?” Riley gave Giles a hard look.  “You know that sacrificing one person for the sake of many is sometimes necessary, don’t you?”
 
Spike’s snarl brought all the heads swiveling to the door to the training room. Already, between Tara’s spells and the several pints of blood he’d had, he was noticeably stronger, if still ragged looking.  He walked with no visible limp and a straight back, completely ignoring the torn jeans flapping around one leg and the tattered tee-shirt hanging off his shoulders like a vest.
 
“The Key isn’t the human that needs to be sacrificed,” Spike said. “And it won’t be.”  He stared at Giles.  “You and I need to talk, Rupert.”
 
Giles nodded, pointing to the office in the back. “Very well.”
 
The others watched as the ex-watcher and the vampire famed for killing slayers walked out of range of human ears.
 
Riley looked at the puzzled Scoobies. “Why is Spike here? And why is Giles listening to anything he has to say?  He can’t help out if the Key is human – the chip won’t let him.  And he clearly can’t fight Glory – she already kicked his ass.  He’s useless.”
 
“Well... Spike and Buffy together....” Xander’s voice trailed off as Riley glared at him.  “I’m just saying, big guy. I saw them one time last year when a bunch of giant... things with unpronounceable names jumped us.  When they’re fighting together... uh... it was pretty awesome.  The funny thing is, I would swear they were having fun – they kept laughing and trading.... Uh, never mind. I guess you had to be there....” Xander went behind the counter to stand near Anya who began whispering to him angrily.
 
Riley’s expression had darkened even more, but he didn’t say anything else. After a few tense moments, he walked to the training room and peered in to see Buffy with her arms around Dawn and Joyce.  He was struck by how easy it was to see that she was protecting them, even though Joyce was a much larger woman, and Dawn was rapidly growing taller than Buffy.  In spite of the size differences and there being two of them, there was no question about who was doing the comforting and reassuring.  His shoulders slumped and he went back out to sit at the table, determined not to leave until Giles and Spike came out and he knew what the plans were going to be.
 
~~~~~~~~~
 
“What is it, Spike?”  Giles’s words were more abrupt than he’d intended and he muttered a “sorry” at Spike’s surprised expression.
 
“What it is, is that the enormous Boy Scout there actually is on the right track.  Not about sacrificing the Niblet, obviously, but....You know about this doctor that Glorificus in using as her link to this world, yeah?”
 
“I do. And if you’re going where I think you are with this, I am completely with you. However, Buffy will never accept it.”
 
“Know that. Already had that conversation with her,” Spike growled. “Stubborn bint.”
 
“Then why are we discussing it?”
 
“Slayer won’t consider it because she’s all good and so forth.  You probably wouldn’t do it unless....” He looked at Giles’s face for a moment, remembering what he’d been like as a Fyral demon, and grinned. “Well, maybe you would, at that. But Buffy would never speak to you again. You’re the white hats and can’t be bending the rules like that.”
 
“Your point?”
 
“My hat’s not white, Watcher. Hasn’t been for a good long time. I won’t stand by and watch the Slayer risk her life fighting this bitch, when killin’ the host would take care of her.”
 
Giles studied Spike’s face, which had fallen into an expressionless mask. He thought back to the previous year and Ethan’s comment to Spike about being “bloody ungrateful”.  And about how, after they all gave up trying to find the escaping mage and went into the apartment, Spike and Buffy had remained outside for a short time.  When Buffy came in, she’d been alone and had refused to answer any questions about Spike’s whereabouts. Although she had taken his coat; the same coat Spike had left on the floor of the training room.
 
“She’ll never speak to you again, either,” Giles said quietly.
 
“Never’s a long time.”  Spike’s expression was one of calm, if sad, acceptance. “I’ll have to take my chances.”
 
“You are a very different vampire,” Giles said, shaking his head.
 
“Always have been.” Spike shrugged. “So, we’re on the same page here? If I get a chance....”
 
“You’re asking me to give you permission to kill someone.”
 
“Not askin’ your permission for anything, Watcher. Just telling you what I’m going to do, so you’ll know to watch for any stakes coming my way.”
 
“She’s not going to stake you,” Giles said, surprising himself with how sure he was. “But she may not forgive you for it.”
 
“Not planning to rip the bugger’s throat out right in front of her,” Spike growled. “But I’m not planning to stand by and watch him turn into a hellbeast without trying to stop it either.”
 
“Well, since Riley appears to have somewhat the same idea, perhaps he will do it for you and Buffy will never forgive him.”
 
Spike snorted and led the way back out to the main part of the shop.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~
 
Buffy had emerged from the training room and was discussing possible hiding places for her mother and Dawn.
 
“I’d let Mom go back to the hospital, but with Ben walking around there....” She sighed. “I was planning to stash them at Spike’s again, but with no bathroom there, that’s not going to work. She needs a more comfortable place than a stone crypt – one with running water.”
 
“How about a hotel?  Maybe in another city? One that’s far away?”
 
“Hmmmm. That’s a thought.” Buffy shook her head. “Nah, it has to be someplace we can all go. I can’t run off and leave you guys here. She knows who you are. Even you,” she added, looking at Riley. “None of you are safe if she finds you.”
 
“How about a hotel in Clarksburg?  It’s only ten miles from here, across the desert, and there’s a pretty decent hotel there.” Xander glanced around the table at the surprised expressions. “You learn stuff when you take a road trip – even if you don’t go very far.”
 
“That’s not a bad idea. And that close, Spike and I could come back and look for Glory at night. And I could get Mom to her doctor’s visit next week—”
 
“Why would you take Spike with you?” Riley’s question interrupted Buffy’s musing.
 
“Because now Glory knows he’s helping me. She almost dusted him!  He can’t stay here either.”
 
Spike’s voice preceded him into the room.
 
“Actually, Slayer, I can and will. That hellbeast doesn’t know where I live. I can stay here and keep an eye on things while you’re gone.”
 
“In the daytime?”
 
He shrugged.  “Can get around if and when I need to. You know that. And I’ve got friends that aren’t as challenged by sunlight.  You can come back when you need to if I find out anything important.”
 
“I am not running away and leaving you to do this by yourself.  That isn’t what I asked you to come back for!”
 
“You asked me to help you. That’s what I’m planning to do.”
 
By this time, Buffy and Spike were glaring at each other from only a few inches away, having completely forgotten they had an audience that included the man who thought he was her boyfriend.
 
“I’m not watching any more of this!” Riley burst into their standoff, walking up and getting between them.  “If you need help, that’s what I’m here for. I’ve got the firepower and the experience. Whatever Glory is, she’s just another demon. Stronger than most, obviously, but still killable.  You take your mother away and I’ll let you know when it’s safe to come back.”
 
He turned to Spike, whose eyes were flashing back and forth between blue and yellow. “And you, Hostile Seventeen, I’m taking in. The Initiative may be shut down, but we’ve still got doctors that can get our hardware out of you.”
 
“You want to take his chip out?”  Xander asked, incredulously. “This is Spike. William the Bloody.  All those in favor of not unchipping Spike, hold up their hands!”  He held his own high, dropping it with an embarrassed shrug when no one else paid any attention.  “I’m just saying....” he mumbled.
 
“No one will be in any danger from him,” Riley said with assurance. “When he’s chipless, Buffy will have to stake him – as she should have years ago. And if she doesn’t want to for some reason, I’ll do it while he’s on the table.”
 
Paying no attention to the shocked faces staring at him, he took Spike by the arm and yanked him toward the door. Spike’s wince at the way the action pulled at his chest wound snapped Buffy out of her outraged speechlessness. She grabbed Riley’s wrist and began to squeeze it until his grip failed and Spike was free.  She sent him a pleading look as she pulled Riley toward the door.
 
“Outside,” she ordered, not giving the much larger man any choice. “We need to have a conversation.”
 
Whatever retaliation Spike may have been planning was diverted by Buffy’s silent plea to leave it to her, as well as the way Tara and Willow immediately tried to get a look at the wound.  He shook them off with a tight smile.
 
“I’m fine. Just need to finish off the rest of the blood and give my body some time to heal itself.”  He kept staring at the closed door through which Buffy had shoved Riley, straining his ears to hear the conversation.
 
~~~~~~~~
 
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”  If the way she’d manhandled him out the door hadn’t made clear that he was dealing with an angry slayer, the look in her eyes and the power radiating off her body would have cleared it up for him. There was no sign of the unsure coed he’d met last year, only a warrior who was dealing with insurrection in the ranks.
 
“Making the decisions you aren’t,” he snapped back, remaining a safe distance from her clenched fists.  “You need to bring the Army in on this if you can’t handle this Glory creature. A neutered vampire and you just aren’t going to get the job done. And the vampire doesn’t need to be here. I don’t know what he thinks you meant by ‘helping you’, but he obviously can’t help you take out Glory, and I want that chip back.”
 
“The Initiative’s gone, Riley. Professor Walsh is dead – at the hand of her own monster – there’s nobody left to care whether Spike still has that chip she put in him. Who are you going to give it back to?”
 
“I don’t know – the Army, maybe. Someone is going to want that technology, and it doesn’t belong to him.”
 
“I think, given that it was stuck in his head without his permission, he has every right to think of it as his. And also, given what you plan to do to him once it’s out, I can’t see any reason why he would want to cooperate. And I damn sure don’t plan to let you have him.  He’s here because I asked him to come. I want him here. End of discussion. You can help us, or you can not help us, but don’t get in the way of me or anybody who’s fighting with me.”
 
“So, this is what it comes down then? In spite of all your assurances that it doesn’t matter to you that I don’t have my enhancements any more?   Do you think I’ve forgotten ‘If I wanted someone with superpowers, I’d be dating Spike’?” he said, imitating her higher pitched voice. He glared at her, daring her to argue with him.  “Tell me, Buffy, is it the superpowers that get you going, or do you just have a thing for vampires?”
 
Buffy’s first instinct was to slap him. Only guilt at the few stolen kisses she’d had with Spike and her body’s immediate reaction to them, stayed her hand. Her shoulders slumped and she turned to go back into the shop.
 
“Go home, Riley. Let the Army guys know what’s going on, just in case they run into her, or... or if we don’t... if we can’t stop her.  At least they’ll be ready for whatever comes through the portal.”  Without looking at him again, she opened the door and entered the store, pulling it closed behind her.