For the Love of




“Anya’ll be sorry she missed this,” Xander muttered.

He and Willow were climbing the side of the hill on which the mansion was situated, and it wasn’t far to go, but he felt like they’d been at it to the point of making it not so much worth it any longer. In the spirit of getting his mind off it he kept up with the chitchat. He knew Willow didn’t mind.

“She loves midnight excursions,” he now added to his former sentence. Willow raised her eyebrows and he smirked. “Well, we’ve only ever gotten as far as the backyard.”

“Xander!” Willow said, though she smiled as well.

“What, you and Tara don’t do stuff like that?”

“No!” she laughed, keeping the smile on as she added: “Besides, even if we were, it’s none of your business.”

“My best friend’s business is none of my business?!” he asked, baffled.

Her smile widened as they neared the top of the hill and they began to crouch down.

“It’s like we’re playing cops and robbers again,” Xander said, looking back at her.

“Only without the fun,” she nodded and he smirked.

“Okay, now all we have to do is wait for the signal,” he stated.

“Signal?”

“Yeah. The one from Giles.”

“Which was?”

“He said he’d tell you!” Xander hissed, panic shining in his eyes.

“Well,” Willow said, eyes just as panicked. “He did!”

“I’ll go find him. We can’t burst out unexpectedly if we don’t know when to do it!”

He was about to run down the hill again when he realized what Willow had actually said and he gave her a very dark glare. She was already giggling.

“Oh, yes, that was the plan: an ambush with a chuckle intro. They’ll be so surprised.”

¤

Giles squatted down behind a bush, the mansion towering less than fifteen yards away. He brought the bag into his lap, unzipping it and beginning to rummage through it. Finally he found what he was looking for, bringing the book out. He opened it, his fingers trembling slightly and he shook them in irritation. He never got nervous. But this situation was extraordinary, and it would take an extraordinary feat for the vampire to pull this off.

The Watcher pushed all thoughts of that away, focusing on what he was trying to do.

Beginning to read off the page he brought out a candle, and lit it.

¤

Buffy walked down the street with a feeling of aggravation in her chest. She couldn’t understand why her friends would treat her like that, what could’ve urged them to leave her behind when they never had before; but she had the most uncanny notion that they were about to put themselves in danger, and the worry was like little bees buzzing around her ears. She couldn’t think about anything but that and here she was, walking to try and find them. She had seen them head this way and she hoped to run into them soon; or at least a sign of them.

But what had been the deal with the weapons? Really?! Maybe they were martial arts freaks and they’d not told her or included her because... they knew she wasn’t really into the whole violence scene and probably wouldn’t listen with more than a quarter of an ear. Or they were afraid she’d hurt herself. Or...

She shook her head. It didn’t make any sense. Why wouldn’t they tell her?

And what, they’re closeted magicians on top of that? she asked herself. But how could they have hid that from me all these years? Yeah, maybe they’re at the local Holiday Inn, putting on a magic show and being too embarrassed to invite me, that’s logical. Because Spike, Mr. I’m-Too-Cool-To-Show-Any-Emotion-Ever, would choose to appear in public in a glittering cape pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

No, she had a hard time seeing that. Though it was kinda fun to picture.

But then, what had Giles been putting in that bag?

¤

Spike pushed the side door of the huge dwelling open, slipping inside and becoming one of the shadows of the antechamber he entered. Slinking along the wall he reached a doorway leading into the large hall which had hosted Angel and him at different times. A fire was blazing in the fireplace and he felt a surge of satisfaction that he’d been right when Sykes came wheeling into sight. He had an almost fanatic expression on, the smile in place as he leaned over a low table. Spike understood it had to contain the dagger; nothing else could cause that much excitement in the rodent.

There had to be guards, but he couldn’t see any. In fact, he hadn’t seen any at all, even posted outside.

“Odd, is it, Mr. Kingsley?” Sykes asked and his voice echoed its loneliness through the room.

Spike tensed, but moved forward, into sight. Sykes’ smile widened.

“Can you stop calling me that?” Spike grumbled.

“Gone, is he?”

The vampire tried to stare the other demon down, but finally answered:

“Yes.”

Sykes smirked.

“Devious are the things we tell ourselves in lieu of getting what we want.”

“You do like riddles, don’t you?” Spike huffed.

“To get the demon, you buried your soul. To get the girl...?” Spike’s face filled with quiet understanding of what Sykes was getting at and the demon looked pleased. “Ah, yes. To get the girl, you are awakening it, aren’t you? Be it consciously or not, Mr. Kingsley. And now you have come to prove yourself to her. To right the wrong you believe I’ve done her. Tell me, do you really think it so? You know she doesn’t want to be the Slayer. She’s said so many times, hasn’t she? In reality this is a blessing,” he said, patting the dagger meaningfully. “I did her a favor.”

Spike smiled a half smile, shaking his head.

“You don’t know her,” he said.

“Oh?” Sykes asked.

“It wasn’t her choice to be born with her powers, and yeah, she can be a buggering pain complaining ‘bout what a sodding burden it is. But she chooses to carry it. She can walk away, but she chooses to stay. Robbing her of the Slayer in her is taking away her right to make that choice. Can’t let you do that, mate.”

Sykes smiled again.

“Insightful,” he said. “Then again, you did spend a few hours inside her mind. I have a lot of it right here,” he added, bringing the dagger into the view of the vampire. “She’ll forget what a devil you are, Spike. Isn’t that what you really want?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I want her to deal with it. ...It’s the only chance I have of ever deserving her.”

Sykes laughed his dry laugh again.

“Seems like you found new sides of yourself, and not only her, didn’t you?” he said. “I’m afraid, though, it’s far from enough. And it’s too late.” A band of vampires slowly entered the room from all sides and Spike felt his heart sink. “Ready for another thrashing?” Sykes inquired wickedly.

¤

“At least Glory’s not here,” Xander said.

“How do you know?” Willow wondered.

“Birds are chirping, the stars are out, there’s no chill down my back.”

She smiled, peaking over the edge of the hill, by which they were lying, and looking at the mansion thirty yards away.

“But she’ll probably be here soon,” she murmured. “Is everything ready?”

“Everything’s ready.”

She felt her insides churn with misgivings, but she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on focusing her energy at what she was supposed to do.

¤

“Take the flame,” Giles said, touching the candle and then holding his hand palm up before he brought the blade of a knife to it. “Take the flesh,” he said, placing a deep cut along his life line. “And grant me what I ask of you.”

He made his hand into a fist, the blood dripping into the grass.

“Take the flame,” he repeated, bringing his fist over it, a drop falling and mixing with the melted wax. “Take the flesh. And grant me what I ask of you.”

¤

Buffy’s determined steps slowed when she raised her head and her eyes landed on the large structure of a building high above her. She got the most familiar feeling from it, and yet she couldn’t remember when she’d been there. She hesitated. They had all told her to stay at Giles’. But then she shook it off and started up the winding road leading to the mansion.

¤

Spike kept his eyes in Sykes’, ignoring the posse gathering around them.

“I need that dagger. If you’re not too eager to see how it feels through your throat, I suggest you bleeding well hand it over.”

Sykes smirked.

“You are as cocky as ever; and dangerously outnumbered. I suggest you check that need you have of letting your mouth run away with your head.”

“You sound awfully sure,” Spike said. “What makes you think I’d ever be cocky enough to come here without backup?”

As if he had heard him utter those words, Giles’ part of the plan was set in motion.

There was a boom outside which shook the ground, and Sykes’ eyes grew with agitation. He signed to the vampires to see what was going on. The one who seemed to be the leader gave a nod and waved to half the vamps to come with him. They disappeared outside. Eight were left. But at the shouts of surprise which came from the ones who had just left, four more of them ran for the front door to come to their aid. Spike hoped they weren’t too many for the Scoobies to handle.

Sykes looked furious, the smile having finally left his thin lips.

“Idiots,” he murmured, looking closely at Spike, narrowing his eyes. “It’s a trick. It’s a trick!” he then yelled to the vampires remaining, but Spike had already faced them and he knew it wouldn’t take long to get rid of them. At least one of them had fledgling reeking from it.

“Here’s how we do this,” he said. “First we shimmy to the left.” He did, the vamps eyeing him with stale faces. “Then we slide to the right.” He did that, too, smirking. Tilting his head to the side. “You’re in trouble if you don’t know the steps,” he remarked.

There was another second’s stillness, and then they all moved forward, Spike readying himself for the fight.

¤

“What if something’s happened?” Xander said.

“Nothing’s happened,” Willow reassured.

“What if he’s been hit over the head and is lying in a bush somewhere?”

“He won’t let himself be hit over the head at a time like this!” she stated.

“Has he ever let himself be hit over the head?” Xander remarked, but then the sky seemed to explode down toward them, loose pebbles skidding down the slope around them, and they both looked up.

Every single star seemed to be falling, over and over and over, painting the sky streaked with gilded and glittering tails of light as they found their way across the blackness.

“That the sign?” Xander inquired.

“It’s so pretty,” Willow said, jaw dropped. Then she collected herself. “Up and at ‘em,” she added, climbing the short way they had left up the hill and standing just as the first vampire came running out the door.

“Up and at them?!” Xander exclaimed, having just straightened up beside her and spotting the fiend as well.

Willow put her palms together, closing her eyes and concentrating hard before she parted them and let loose a ball of fire. It sailed gracefully through the air, missing the head vamp completely, but smashing against the side wall of the mansion and causing a pretty impressive dent in its stone, showing what it could have done to the demon, had it hit its mark.

“Willow!” Xander yelled, grabbing his sword as the vampires, which had followed outside, stared at the scorched part of the mansion and began to growl. “They’re making the Wanna-Bite-Something face. All of them are. Can’t you blow on it, or something?” he wondered as she was struggling to conjure another fireball.

“Want some ass with that wisdom?” she shot, voice strained from the task she was under.

“That’s actually pretty funny,” Xander smirked just as she parted her palms again.

This time it hit the charging leader in the chest and went into him, resting there for a moment before the fire spread fingers of light through him and he was dust.

“Yes! Alright, Willow!” Xander cheered. “Okay, make another one and I’ll try and lure them closer. Or... fight them off while you concentrate,” he added as five vamps were rapidly approaching. “Whichever works best.”

¤

Giles lost his balance when his offering was accepted and the diversion he had decided to contribute with was blasting itself from the sky. He smiled as he looked up; remembering a moment when he was a little younger and someone had used this kind of magic to catch his attention. It sure had worked. He looked at the hand he had wounded and felt reassured when the cut was completely gone.

“Astinei,” he said his thanks, just as the vampires came running out through the front door of the mansion.

And now to something else, he thought, grabbing the book again, opening it at the middle and hastily beginning to read.

¤

Buffy’s heart jumped into overdrive when the dark of night was suddenly lit by what seemed like a million shooting stars, all appearing at once. She had never seen anything like it. She stood still for a while, taking in the incredible sight above, but felt the need to get herself moving and so she began walking again. She was nearing the summit. Soon the road would flatten out and the mansion would stand before her.

She wasn’t exactly sure what she’d do once she reached it. Perhaps she’d just sit down and watch the marvel of the sky.

The mansion finally came into view and she smiled to herself. She was slightly out of breath, but she felt good now that the walk was completed and her goal lie in sight. She came to a halt when she saw Willow throw something that was on fire on a large man running toward her and not only did she hit him in the chest, in a second his entire body was glowing from the inside and then, in the next blink, it was as if he’d never even existed.

Buffy gaped at the sight even more than she had at the sky falling down.

“What’s going on?” she murmured.

¤

Spike punched one vamp, spinning around and kicking one in the head, ducking as a third was aiming a blow to his neck and kicking a leg out, his foot connecting with the demon’s stomach, bringing his stake out and sinking it in the chest of the fourth. He grabbed the first vampire’s arm, as he was about to deliver a punch to his side, and got rid of it as well. Dust was flying as the second vamp attacked from the front and Spike took three well-aimed hooks to his chin before he countered with three of his own to the vampire’s cheek. Then he jumped up and kicked both remaining vamps in the chest, sending them flying. He turned in the air, landing facing Sykes, who was still holding the dagger.

“Give it here,” Spike gritted out.

“I’d rather find out what it feels like through my throat,” Sykes smirked.

“So be it,” Spike said, turning around and sinking the stake through the ribcage of the charging vampire.

¤

Willow directed her second fireball at one of the charging vampires, but they were coming closer very quickly and she didn’t think that she could take them all out.

“You’re gonna have to fight,” she said to Xander.

“I know, I have a sword,” he replied meaningfully, though his brow was crowned by pearls of sweat.

“I’ll take the ones on the sides if you take the ones in the middle,” she offered.

“The ones in the middle are the bigger ones; I should take the ones on the sides.”

“Hey, where’s the gallantry?”

“You’re wielding fire, I have to stick this in the right place and the place isn’t larger than my fist. Do you remember the summer I took up archery?”

Willow gave him a petrified look.

“You take the ones on the sides,” she agreed, letting another ball of fire loose and it hit the vampire farthest to the right of the procession, which slowed slightly as he burst into dust.

“You took one of mine!”

“It’s my aim,” she apologized. “But really it’s a good thing, now you take one of mine and we’ll call it even.”

“Okay,” he nodded. “Hey!”

He didn’t get a chance to argue his point as he had to move forward to meet the attack. He did so with a very manly growl and a swing of the sword which, he thought, though it was but a mere copy of one of Buffy’s moves, worked quite well.

The vampire roared with pain as the blade of the sword got caught in its wrist and Xander yanked to get it loose.

Willow released another fireball and it hit the vampire she had wanted it too, which made her smile widely. She was almost trembling from the excruciatingly exhausting act of drawing energy from the earth to create friction enough for the fire to form, but she wasn’t finished yet, and began the process all over again.

“Willow!”

She frowned. She had thought she heard something before, but... Turning her head to look behind her she stared at the form running toward her.

“Buffy!” she yelled. “Don’t! Go back!”

“I will not!” Buffy said, stopping before her and staring at her hands, between which a light was glowing. “What is that? What’s going on? Oh, my God, what’s Xander doing?!”

Willow faced the vampires and threw the ball at one of the ones who had decided to turn and run back to the makeshift safety of the mansion. Buffy’s eyes were huge when she turned back to her.

“You... you... It was. In your hand. You held it in your hand?” she stuttered and Willow looked back at Xander as he finally got the sword loose and drew his arm back, aiming it with care at the cringing vampire which was holding its severed wrist.

Then he put the blade through its chest and it turned into dust. He raised both arms in a victorious gesture before turning to Willow with a huge smile.

“I can too. Did you see that? Oh,” he stopped himself, spotting Buffy. “D-did you see that?” he added.
“Okay, what the hell is going on?”

“Where’d all the demons go?” Xander asked, looking around.

“I didn’t mean ‘hell’ literally,” Buffy remarked.

Willow and Xander stared at each other, then looked at the doorway leading into the building where they spotted the back of the last vampire disappear out of view.

“Spike,” they said with one voice, getting themselves moving, Xander grabbing the sword from the ground.

“Spike?” Buffy said, watching them start to run away from her. “Spike’s in there?!” she then yelled, running after them.

¤

The final vamp was standing a few yards away, watching his colleague disintegrate. Spike lowered his arm, gripping the stake and tilting his head a little to the side. The other vamp eyed him, then moved forward and Spike met him, kicking him in the side, then in the head, then in the side, sending him stumbling off balance. Spike was on him, raising the stake and sinking it through the heart of his opponent. He got to his feet to avoid most of the dust, spinning around at the sound of running feet.

Six of the vamps who had left before now came returning inside and his eyebrows rose.

“Bloody hell,” he grumbled.

¤

“Detei sah dakh harash lei. Mentei ih kahl inatai. Fei dui minh isai lih.”

Giles reread the sentence again. Then his eyes left the book and he looked up as he thought he heard Buffy’s voice. He stared at the forms of Willow and Xander, who ran in through the front door of the mansion, and he dropped the book when Buffy wasn’t late to follow.

“Oh, dear. Oh, dear, oh, dear,” he said, quickly getting to his feet.