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More Toil and Trouble by slaymesoftly
 
Nine
 
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Chapter Nine

Buffy giggled and went back to putting her clothes on while Spike disappeared into the tunnel. By the time he came back, she was dressed and was trying to comb her hair with her fingers. He waved his hand at her, and she followed him into the tunnel toward the light of the still flickering torch. When they reached the junction with the sewers, she saw that Spike had put two old boards across the water and he gestured to them.
 
“Best I can do right now, love. I’ll work on something more elegant and private this week, but at least for now...”
 
“It’s fine. Thanks.”  She waited, raising her eyebrows at him.
 
“Oh. Right. Go away, Spike. Got it. Sorry.”  He grinned at her and walked back to his bedroom.  Buffy waited until he was just a shadow against the dim light at the end of the tunnel, then quickly straddled the boards and took care of her bladder. As soon as she was done, she stepped back onto the packed dirt and pulled her jeans the rest of the way up.  She was fastening them as she walked back toward the now-empty bedroom, wondering where Spike was.
 
A scraping sound from above caught her ear, and she went up the ladder, hesitating just before the top and peeking over the rim to see who was there. When she saw Giles standing in the middle of the crypt and holding a grocery store bag as well as a bag from McDonalds, she squealed and jumped from the rung of the ladder all the way to the floor. 
 
“Ah, there you are, I was beginning to worry.” Giles looked very relieved to find that he was not alone in a crypt with a vampire, and Buffy smirked at him as she grabbed the bag of food.  She was stuffing her mouth with a Big Mac as she quizzed him about how he got rid of Riley.
 
“He received some sort of emergency message and ran out speaking into his communicator about containment and weapons, so I’ve assumed they are too busy at something just now to worry about me. I drove into the cemetery and the caretaker showed me how to get here.”
 
“Is your car parked outside?” Spike looked like he was planning to throw Giles back out, headache or not.
 
“I am not that stupid,” Giles said, an offended expression on his face. “My car is hidden in an old storage shed – the same one yours is.”
 
“Oh. Alright then.” He watched Buffy inhaling the food Giles had brought. “Looks like I should be grateful the Slay-Buffy didn’t start chewing on the furniture.”
 
“I told you I was starving,” she mumbled around a mouthful of fries. She swallowed and turned to Giles.
 
“So if Riley and his guys are busy somewhere, does that mean I can come out of hiding?” She sent Spike an apologetic smile as she said, “It’s really kinda... boring here. No TV, no lights except candles, no shower, no food, no—”
 
“I think he’s got the picture, Slayer.” Spike made no attempt to apologize to her for using her title instead of her name, and she realized that her smile hadn’t been enough to take the sting out of her words.
Note to self, if Spike calls me slayer, he’s probably mad at me.
 
“I’m sure this has been quite an imposition upon Spike as well as you,” Giles said, staring back and forth between them. “However, until we know what’s going on, I think we have to assume—” They all froze at the sound of a knock on the door.
 
“Did you...?”
 
“Only Willow. But she doesn’t know where Spike lives, does she?”
 
Spike shook his head and gestured for them to get out of sight as he walked toward the door. On the way, he grabbed a sword from the wall and held it behind his back.  When he felt Buffy behind him, he snarled at her, but she shook her head and pointed to the door, stepping against the wall where she would be invisible to anyone on the other side.
 
Spike opened the door just far enough to peer out without exposing himself to the sun, now directly overhead. He blinked at who was standing there.
 
“What are you doing here, Red? Don’t recall sending for magic take-out.”
 
“I’m looking for Buffy. Riley needs to talk to her really badly, and I know—”
 
Willow was cut off as Riley shouldered his way past her and pushed the door open. Buffy’s muffled shout from behind it was followed by her shove back, smashing his head between the door and the jamb. While Riley tried to recover, Spike brought the sword up and pointed it at his throat.
 
“Don’t know how you got the witch to bring you here, but you’ve made a big mistake. I’ll let my head explode before I allow you take Buffy into that torture chamber.”
 
He pushed the point of the sword against Riley’s neck, wincing when the chip reminded him of what would happen if he actually drew blood. Buffy stepped from behind the door and, casting a disappointed look at Willow, said, “Don’t hurt yourself killing him, Spike.... Let me do it.” She glared at Riley, hands on hips. “You’ve got one minute to give me a reason not to make you very sorry you found me....” Her brow wrinkled even more. “How did you find us—me?”
 
Riley held up his hands in the universal sign for peace. He never took his eyes off Spike as he said, “We had a tracer on Giles’ car, and another one on his coat. Put it on there this morning.” He shifted his gaze to Buffy for a second, then back to the growling vampire. “I’m not here to take you anywhere, Buffy. I’m here to ask for help.”
 
Buffy rested one hand on Spike’s back. “Put the sword down before you get a headache, Spike. Let’s hear him out.” 
 
“Do I want to know why a hostile is acting like he has a right to say what happens to you?” Riley asked, stiffening his shoulders and standing up straighter.
 
“Do I want to know why you were planning to capture me and take me to that crazy woman you work for?” Buffy challenged right back.  
 
The two formerly on-their-way-to-being-a-couple people stared at each other, Riley dropping his gaze first. He sighed, relaxing when Spike dropped the sword from his neck and moved behind Buffy instead of in front of her. Giles had been searching his coat for the tracer, finding and ripping it off to the accompaniment of much cursing. He walked over and held it out.
 
“I presume this belongs to you?”
 
“Yes.” Riley took the button and dropped it in his pocket. “I’m sorry about all this, but it’s an emergency, and we’ve been told that Buffy can handle it.”
 
“Told? By whom?”
 
“We... uh... it looks like Maggie’s work wasn’t totally sanctioned by the Army brass or the Department of Defense. We’ve been told to stand down, and also that we’re to ask Buffy for help.” His expression showed how unlikely he thought it was that she was going to be of use to them.
 
“What do you need help with if you’re shutting down? I can just go back to staking vamps and slaying demons when I catch them doing evil stuff. We should have at least a month or so before apocalypse time.”
 
Riley blinked at that calm remark, but continued, “Well, it seems like we have a... problem. Maggie is... um... er... I guess she’s dead. She was working on some kind of super-soldier, and it... woke up... and stabbed her. And now she’s kind of a... cyborg. Like him, only less dangerous.”
 
“And how this is this Buffy’s problem?”
 
“Why should the Slayer care about your problems?”
 
Giles and Spike spoke at the same time, earning identical glares from Buffy.
 
“Would you two like to butt out for a minute, so I can find out what’s going on?”
 
“The wanker told us what’s going on. His sadistic boss got herself killed by one of her Frankenstein experiments. Got nothing to do with us or you.”
 
Buffy sighed and pointed to the kitchen area. “You two, over there. Talk to each other in British or something.  You,” she pointed to Riley, “sit down on that chair and tell me what all this has to do with me and who told you I had to do something about it.”
 
As Riley reluctantly sat, and Giles and Spike moved a short distance away, Buffy turned her gaze on Willow, who was standing in the open doorway looking miserable.
 
“I guess you’d better come in too,” Buffy said with a complete lack of warmth. “Close the door, please.”
 
XXXXXXX
 
Willow stepped into the room and stood uncertainly for a moment. When Giles gestured to her, she bit her lip but obediently joined him and Spike.
 
“What were you thinking?” Giles said without preamble. “I thought we could trust you.”
 
Willow looked uncomfortable for a second, then stood up a little straighter. “I was thinking that from what I saw when I hacked into their system Riley really did need some help. And with Professor Walsh... gone... nobody was going to be after Buffy for anything but help with a big bad.”  She glanced over to where Buffy was glaring at Riley and tapping her foot impatiently.  “I didn’t know he was following you, Giles, until he asked me to come with him. I just told him Buffy was hiding out with Spike and you knew where they were.”
 
“And now he knows. And so do all his mates...”
 
“I don’t think so. I mean, if I got the gist of it, he doesn’t have a lot of buddies left.  They barely got out of the lab alive. I don’t think he even cares about you anymore, Spike... well, except for the whole Buffy-seems-to-like-you-too-much guy stuff....”
 
“None of his bloody business.”
 
“Well, he is... was... her boyfriend until his boss decided she needed to....  Okay. You’re right. None of his business. I guess he blew that relationship when he picked his boss over Buffy.”
 
Giles spoke up. “And now he wants her help. I detect the Council’s long arm in this decision. Clearly they have reached out to their contacts in the US Government and convinced them they had someone here who is an expert in handling demons.”
 
“Doesn’t sound like she’s gonna be facing a demon,” Spike said. “More like a robot.”
 
“Buffy’s killed a robot before,” Willow said helpfully. “Remember, Giles?”
 
“Indeed. She almost went to jail before he was revealed to be non-human.”
 
“Doesn’t sound much like something she should be taking on by herself,” Spike said, waving a hand to silence Giles and Willow.  He listened intently as Riley explained to Buffy what they knew about Adam and what he could do.
 
“So, he’s run by some kind of thing in his chest?”
 
Riley nodded. “Yes, and as long as it keeps running, he is almost invulnerable. He never tires, never sleeps, can’t be hurt....”
 
Buffy nodded. “And he’s not human?”
 
“No. We’ve found Maggie’s schematics – it’s the only reason we know anything about him. He’s made up mostly from demon parts and mechanical stuff. Very little human. Only what was necessary to make him able to walk and talk like one. Has a computer for a brain. Whatever personality he’s got, I’d say it’s more demon than anything else.”
 
“Did you hear that, Spike?” Buffy turned to look at him. He nodded and began walking toward her.
 
“Sounds like one of us gets to rip that power source right out of his chest.” He bared his teeth at Riley. “Been a long time since I got to rip a heart out of someone’s chest. Looking forward to it.”
 
“Hey! I’m the apocalypse stopper here,” Buffy complained.  “I get to the heart—power pack—ripping.  You’re back-up!”
 
“Spoil Sport.”
 
“Glory hound.”
 
“Oh. Dear. Lord.” Giles watch the exchange between Buffy and Spike with growing dismay.
 
“Told you so,” Willow said. “They’ve done it again. And there’s no spell making them like each other this time.”
 
“Your spell is what started it,” Giles said, turning his glare on her. “And your second spell just cemented the connection. This is another example of unintended consequences of using magic carelessly.”
 
“She could do worse than have Spike as her back-up chest-ripper,” Willow snapped back. “And she wouldn’t have that without my spell.” 
 
Giles sighed. “Also an unintended consequence, and one no one could have foreseen.”  They stood in stubborn silence for a moment before Giles continued. “I know you don’t believe this, Willow, but I have no desire to remove what is obviously your natural gift for magic. Not on a permanent basis. I am concerned for your long-term happiness and for your... soul... for lack of a better word. I’m worried that you will dip into things that could change you forever... in ways none of us would enjoy, including you.”
 
“Buffy needs me to be able to do magic,” Willow said, arms folded across her chest. “It’s not fair of you to keep me from doing it.”
 
“Buffy needs to be able to count on you to be on her side,” he corrected. “And that did not prove to be the case the last time you used your magic.”
 
“But I learned from that, Giles! I would never do something like that again.” She stared at him, tears in her eyes. “I want my magic back.”
 
“Willow, I am not really in control of that. Your natural power will return a bit at a time. I would surprised if it were not already building up in your body.  What I drained from you is replaceable – unless the coven has some reason to feel you are too potentially dangerous to be allowed that kind of power.  Hence my desire to get you some basic training in the appropriate uses of magic and the dangers to be avoided.  You have the potential to be a very powerful force on the side of good, but we have to know that you can be trusted not to be seduced by your power.”
 
“Afraid I’m going to turn to the Dark Side, Giles?” Willow said with a sad smile.
 
“It happens. You’ve already shown a willingness to let your anger at people you care about — people who were only trying to help you — overwhelm any normal hesitation to use your magic against them—us.”
 
“I was hurting! And nobody cared!”
 
“The first time you were. And I have apologized for our lack of empathy. As I recall, Xander and I spent quite some — again spell-induced — time apologizing for our shortcomings. Apologies that became less and less sincere as it became clear that you were enjoying our discomfort.”
 
“Buffy never apologized,” Willow mumbled.
 
“Buffy spent that time trapped in a magic-provoked sexual encounter with a notorious slayer-killing vampire. I suspect by the time she found you trying to create more such spells, she was not feeling terribly sorry for you.”
 
“She shouldn’t have interfered.”
 
“Which brings us to your second set of spells. The ones you cast, even after having seen the unintended consequences of the first one. You deliberately spelled your “best friend” so as to send her right back to the bed... so to speak.... of that very same vampire.”
 
“Nothing happened. I forgot to put the spell on Spike.” Willow’s confident expression gradually wilted as she read Giles’s face. He waited, gazing at her with sad satisfaction until she understood what she’d just said.
“I forgot to put the spell on Spike. I didn’t finish it,” she whispered. “I screwed up.”
 
“In that instance, it was a fortuitous error. Spike showed admirable restraint for a demon. Had it been any other vampire, Buffy would have been in serious danger... again. And you would have once again, used your power to bring harm to someone you call a friend.”
 
“I don’t think he would hurt her. Look at them.” Willow’s voice held a pleading  note.
 
“You could not know that then. Nor did you care.  Had he not been as self-restrained as he apparently was, he could have raped Buffy at will. Because of your spell.”  Rather than pursue the point, and bring up his own time spent as his much younger and more dangerous self, he left her to consider her actions.
 
He walked over to where Riley was staring, clearly appalled, as Buffy and Spike semi-seriously argued over who was going to tear Adam’s “heart” from his chest. Giles smothered a smile and allowed himself a moment to appreciate what a much better match Spike was for a slayer than a human man who could not imagine the things she’d had to do in her short life. Although he did his best to shake off that insane thought, the gaze he fixed on Spike was more thoughtful than not as he joined them.
 
“So. Is there a plan of attack? Tearing its power source out is all well and good, but you will need to be able to reach him to do it.”
 
Buffy cast a glance over at Willow, who was staring at her with a miserable expression on her face.
 
“I think I have a plan,” Buffy said, sending Willow a tentative smile.  “Let me work on it for a few minutes.”
 
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