Chapter 2 – Stupid Vampire Senses!

“Willow!” Spike shouted as he and several baby slayers bounded through the back door. “Willow! Are you here? Did you get her?” Spike called out, racing through the kitchen toward the front of the house.

Willow, Xander, and Giles all came rushing back through the house toward him.

“Spike!” Willow replied, looking relieved that he and the other girls had made it back. “Yes, we found her, but...” She was cut off by a series of pained screams coming from the living room. His momentary relief was quickly replaced by panic, and he tried to push past Willow in his need to get to Buffy. “Spike, wait! Spike! You can’t go in...” Willow frantically tried to pull Spike back toward the kitchen by the arm. "Try and stop me!" He easily shook off her hand and pushed roughly through the assemblage, running into the living room. 

A very battered looking Buffy sat on the couch, her legs pulled up in front of her with her ankles crossed. From what Spike could tell, she was wearing only a blue button-down, and it was covered in blood and filth. Dawn and another one of the mini-slayers were holding her hands, trying to coax her up and meeting only determined thrashing and screaming from Buffy. But it was Buffy. He had been so afraid that The First and its Bringers would kill her before they could get to her. It took two days for him to heal enough to move, another three before he was well enough for them to actually implement their plan for rescue. Yet, here she was. Alive. And, screaming at the top of her lungs in...fear? Something was definitely wrong.

“Stop it, you’re going to hurt her,” Spike said, quickly striding over to one of the mini-slayers and pulling her away from Buffy. He leaned over, to try and somehow calm her when suddenly it hit him. As Buffy jerked backward screaming, Spike jolted back himself. Stumbling in shock, he crashed backward straight into the coffee table, shattering it into tiny pieces.

“God, no,” He whispered out, “Oh God, no.” He scrambled back a few feet and looked around to see all the faces in the room staring down at the floor. He glanced back to Buffy who was now whimpering in a little ball on the couch, sobs escaping her tiny form.

“Spike, I’m sorry. I tried to tell you, but...” Willow blurted out suddenly. Everyone stared at him as he stared at Buffy for long moments while she continued to whimper and rock, muttering under her breath, words too soft for anyone but him to hear. But they were clear as day to him, and every one of them stabbing through him as surely as a stake to his heart. And then something snapped in him. His eyes closed as he felt every one of his muscle tighten as his rage overcame him. With a fierce growl, he jumped to his feet and stormed through the front door. He really needed to kill something. A lot of somethings.

“Spike?” He heard Dawn call after him.

“Dawn, let him go,” Willow’s words followed.

“But, he’s hurting. You saw him!” Dawn.

“He needs time, Dawn. There’s nothing you can do to make this better,” Giles words were the last he heard before his vision slipped into a sea of red.