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14...

Waking up on the sofa, Giles turned his head away from the backrest and practically jumped up from where he lay, his head whipping back to face the brown patterned cushions instantly.

Grinning at the reaction she had caused, Drusilla sat back on her heels, waiting for the Watcher to turn around again to face her.

“I think that’s close enough.” Willow muttered causing Dru to pout comically.

“Oh no.” Anya joined in happily, “Let her do it again.”

“Thank you Anya.” Giles grumbled, pulling himself upright and shooing the vampiress away from him. “What happened?”

“You fainted like a big wimp.” Anya filled him in gleefully. “Lucky Spike was holding you up.”

“Lucky?” Giles spluttered angrily, “He tried to kill me!”

“He did not.” Buffy told him calmly from the doorway. “He wouldn’t kill you.”

“Wouldn’t kill me?” Giles stood quickly, ignoring the moment of dizziness that swept through him, “”I distinctively remember you telling him not to kill me yet.”

“Oh no. She was telling Angel not to kill the purple psycho.” Anya interjected. “Which he didn’t do.” She added when Giles glared in her direction.

“Mr Lilac One is still alive in there.” Buffy told the Watcher wearily. “Just.” Turning her head to watch Faith interrogate her psychology T.A. she smiled. Turnabout really was fair play it seemed. These soldiers had been plaguing Faith for months, stealing kills from right under her, knocking her out and leaving her in the cemetery while they dealt with whatever she had been fighting, doing her job for her and eluding investigation no matter how hard the Scoobies tried to find out about them.

Each punch Faith used to knock about this soldier was payback for all the times they had used their tasers and knocked her out. For every time he had given her back a paper with a C grade, just because she hadn’t wanted to date him, for every time he showed up at the Bronze, trying to dance with her, and for every time she had tried to get hold of him and failed, since finding out he was a commando. She was very careful not to use her full strength and knock him out. She definitely wanted him awake for this.

Buffy smiled encouragingly. No matter what her friends thought of her now, she could do this, she could open their eyes as to what evil really was and she could do it all without bending to anyone’s rules. She wasn’t Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and she was proud of that. She was simply Buffy now. And payback was a bitch.

“Buffy?” Giles implored, realisation had set in and he was finding it hard to come to terms with the fact that Faith was currently torturing their hostage under the watchful eye of Angel. And nobody else seemed to be bothered with this horrifying fact. Xander was helping Joyce make drinks, Anya, Willow and Drusilla were chatting idly about vengeance magic and Spike, Angel and Faith were surrounding Agent Finn. That left Buffy where she stood in the doorway facing him.

“Yes Giles?” Came the saccharine coated voice of the girl he hardly recognised anymore. His Slayer would never have let herself get into this situation. His Slayer was the hardy one that quit the council because she didn’t want to die. The one that helped people by eradicating the demons and malevolent entities that the Hellmouth spewed out. Not the stranger that stood before him with the blood of innocent men on her freshly scrubbed hands.

Something that the Hellmouth had spat out.

“Come on,” Buffy almost taunted the Englishman, “You wanted to say something. The floor is yours. Go ahead. I’m listening.”

“Are you?” Giles answered disinterestedly, hoping she would focus her attentions elsewhere, to realise the extent her being here had had on everyone’s lives.

“Of course I am.” Buffy replied, making her way closer to him and squatting down in front of him, a hard glint in her eye. “So tell me how sick and evil I am. How I’m nothing better than a vampire myself. You’re right you know. I’m practically a vampire myself. I killed those men. Why? Because it was them or me. I win. I always win. If I don’t win, I’m dead.” She paused, watching it all sink in. “I’m not evil Giles. I’m fighting for good here. You don’t see that, you just see my actions. What about all that happened to make me this way? You weren’t there to chaperone me Giles. I needed training, so I trained with vampires. I needed to eat so I killed for food. I needed more than that Giles. I needed security, love, affection. And that’s your problem. That I’m in love with Spike.” She stood back up, scowling down at her former Watcher. “I suggest you get over it.” She spat, turning on her heel and marching away from him, leaving him cleaning his glasses with a handkerchief, bereft of anything fitting to say.

“She right you know.” Willow said softly. “We have to move past it. She’s still the same Buffy, she’s just been through a lot.”

“I’m afraid she’s not the same old Buffy.” Giles replied, his voice low and calm. “There are a lot of things in this world that change people, and I’m afraid they don’t come back from those kinds of changes.”

“So she’s not going to change back?” Xander mock gasped, placing a tray of drinks down on the coffee table. “Well duh Giles. She’s changed. Maybe we need to change as well?”

“You really do.” Anya agreed, standing up and pressing a kiss to Xander’s cheek before excusing herself to watch the interrogation.



“So Riley,” Angel grinned, “Anything else to declare?” He had been having fun with this kid. The young lad honestly believed that it was God’s will that he worked for the government to help to destroy the evil in the world.

Smirking at the will of the kid remaining silent, Spike wrapped his arms around Buffy’s waist, mindful of her mum’s eagle eye. She had already intervened twice into the impromptu torture session, taking away all the fun. Apparently breaking fingers and toes was unnecessary. She didn’t quite realise that the soldier would probably be killed before the sun came up.

“I’d talk.” Faith offered helpfully, flashing a grin. This was the kinda stuff she’d always enjoyed.

The kinda stuff that Giles would never let her do.

“It’ll be easier on you f’you just tell us what we need y’know?”

“Go back to hell.” Riley muttered.

“’Fraid I ain’t from there.” Faith chuckled, “Can’t speak for them though.” She added poking her thumb at where Buffy, Spike and Angel stood.

“I’d rather not go back there.” Buffy frowned. “It’s not as much fun as you’d think.”

“There’s no such place.” Riley mumbled, looking the small blonde directly in the eye.

“So you believe in God, but not Hell?” Faith couldn’t help but ask. She wished she’d paid more attention in his class, other than to identify her outstanding lack of superego that one day. This guy obviously needed more mental help than he’d gotten from the government. “What about Heaven? Is that where all the demons you kill come from?”

“Faith, I don’t think he’s quite in the mood for theology today.” Buffy told the younger Slayer softly. “He’s gonna tell us all about his friends in the government.”

“Why should I?” The defiant young soldier asked, determined not to be defeated by these monsters. To die for his country was supposed to be a great honour, he just didn’t want that honour quite yet.

“Because if you do. You get to live.” Angel interrupted, a malicious smile lighting up his face.

“’Cept old Angelus here hates to let people live.” Spike informed the soldier. “He prefers to savour the kill. So I’d make him happy before you become lunch.”

“If you kill me, you’ll never find out anything.” Riley stated confidently, staring the blonde vampire in the eyes.

“Sure we will, we’ve got your radios. We’ll have your base located before the sun comes up and then what?” Buffy asked calmly. Giles had mentioned how good Willow had become at simple magic spells. Willow and Dru could use a locater spell to pinpoint the army base for them to destroy.

“How? They won’t tell you anything over the radio.” Riley countered naively.

“Magic, my dear boy.” Angel smiled, watching Buffy as she motioned for Willow and Drusilla to join them. “It’s magic. I’m sure you don’t believe in that either.”

“So let’s get this show on the road.” Spike interrupted, pointing to the window where the deep blue sky was beginning to turn golden hues. “Only got ‘bout an hour, max.”

“We’ll have to take him home with us for tea.” Dru smiled eagerly.

“I’m quite sure that won’t be necessary.” Joyce cut in nervously.

“But Miss Edith would like a tea party.” Dru pouted. “She will be lonely without this new tinkertoy.”

“He’s not a toy.” Joyce said firmly. “I don’t think he should go with you. He can stay here.”

“No mom. It’s too dangerous. We’ll take him. We have more room.” Buffy argued softly, not wanting Giles to overhear their conversation and intervene.

“I want him left alive.” Joyce stated sternly.

“Alive? Yes certainly.” Giles butted in portentously. “I feel that I shall have to accompany him.”

“And I feel you’re being a butthead.” Buffy muttered under her breath, shooting death glares at Spike when he laughed at her. “Sure. Why not. We can do the spell at the mansion too.”

“Excellent.” Giles smiled, “We shall escort Mr Finn to the mansion after we get the necessary ingredients from the magic shop.”

“No. We’re leaving now. We’ll take him, just in case he tries to run.”

“He can’t exactly run in that state.” Xander noted, waving his hand in the direction of the soldier, pointing out the trickles of blood that had run down his arms to his hands and his legs to his now bare feet from the torture session Angel had presided over.

“You’d be surprised.” Spike told the young boy, taking hold of the ropes that bound Riley to his chair and slipping them over his own wrists, anchoring himself to the soldier. “Lead the way.” He grinned, his spare hand seeking out Buffy, resting possessively on the curve of her spine.

Standing up straighter at the simple reassurance from Spike, Buffy scowled. “We’re leaving. You’re quite welcome to join us later.” She bit out, keeping her eyes away from her mother’s wary gaze lest she gave away her objectionable intentions. “Bye.” She added simply, her head down, being shepherded out the door by Spike who dragged Riley with him, followed by Drusilla and Angel.

“You think she knows?” Buffy asked, sinking into the welcome embrace that Spike’s free arm offered.

“Your mum?” Spike chewed at his lip softly, not wanting to hurt his girl. “She’s not stupid pet.”

“She totally thinks I’m evil.” Buffy groaned, throwing back her head and growling at the coming dawn.

Taking Buffy’s arm, Dru smiled softly, a smile she usually reserved for Buffy, her special golden dolly.

“Matris semper.” Drusilla whispered, her gaze following Buffy’s to the golden skies. “Soluta. Pura.”

Turning her frown to the raven haired vampiress Buffy couldn’t help but smile at the look of astonishment on Dru’s face.

“She’s telling you your mum loves you pet. Unconditionally.” Spike translated for her, pulling her close to him and pressing a kiss to her cheek, chuckling at the disgust that emanated from their prisoner at his display of emotion. Dru was still wandering along beside them, her face alight with joy at the words she had spoken, long forgotten from her own childhood.

“My mom loves me now.” Buffy said quietly. “But what about later?”