Made by Spikes Slayer2


The mood in the small underground room where Buffy’s friends waited was tense and troubled, as the group who had been watching the laptop screen when the connection had been lost considered the implications of what they had seen, and the timing of Buffy’s cutting the connection.

Willow had turned their attention back to the laptop around the time that Riley was trying to force Spike’s submission with the controller to his chip – moments before the chips had gone down completely. Seeing what they had seen on the screen had helped to explain Julian’s miraculous turn around as well.

They had no idea how it had happened, but it seemed that *all* the chips – not just Julian’s – had stopped functioning. Cautious “testing” of Mara’s chip – consisting of a light slap to Tara’s arm – had proven that theory. And the humans in the group should possibly have been concerned, at the thought of the sheer number of vampires who were now free to attack if they so chose.

But instead, they were relieved – elated, even.

Willow, however, had an anxious frown on her face as she left the blank, snowy screen and went to sit down beside the Watcher, who was not taking part in the excitement that the others were indulging in, either.

Still concerned at the fact that Julian had not yet awakened, he was nevertheless confident that the boy’s condition was temporary. His body temperature had returned to normal, and after the brutal punishment that his body had taken, it seemed that it was probably normal for him to still be unconscious.

Giles wanted to be there when he awoke. He had gently laid the boy back down on the makeshift bed the others had made of soft blankets, and now sat calmly by his side, watching for him to awaken, with a calm half-smile of peaceful relief on his face.

Willow was surprised that he did not seem concerned by what he had seen on the laptop screen. She hesitated for a moment before speaking her own worries aloud.

“Do you – do you think she’s gonna let him do it?”

Giles’ mind was far from Buffy and Spike in the Initiative compound, and his utter lack of concern over what they did to Riley kept him from understanding what she was talking about. With a slightly puzzled look he asked, “Who let who do what?” with the poorest use of the English language that Willow had ever heard him make.

She hardly noticed, though it would have shocked her at any other time. “Buffy,” she clarified, staring at the far wall with troubled eyes. “Let Spike.” She paused, hardly able to say the words. “Kill Riley.”

Her anxious tone drew his attention, and he met her gaze with gently searching eyes. He was silent for a long moment before replying softly, “I would not be one bit surprised if she *did* allow him to.”

Willow’s solemn green eyes widened slightly at those words, but more so at the calm acceptance with which they were spoken. Seeing the silent question in her troubled gaze, Giles considered carefully for a moment before going on.

“And I should not blame her in the least for allowing it – or Spike for doing it – if they do.”

The little redhead looked stunned and a little dismayed by his words. “But,” she began in a small, fearful voice. “But – if Buffy – if she…” Her concern for her friend was evident in the words she could not bring herself to speak.

“Willow,” Giles interrupted gently, “I agree that it would be in Buffy’s better interests in the long run if she does not harm Riley, if she can get safely out of there without doing so. I am aware that if she allows his death, she will deal with the impact of her decision for a very long time to come. It would show a great deal of strength of character and compassion – for both Buffy *and* Spike – to have him in their power, after all he’s done to cause them suffering, and allow him to live. If she does not choose to take his life tonight, I will be incredibly proud of her.”

Willow frowned, a bit confused by his words. After a moment’s consideration, she asked quietly, “And if she *does* choose to kill him? Or to let Spike kill him?”

Giles was silent for a long moment, before he said with a calm surety that she found very comforting, “Then I will accept that my Slayer is indeed *human*, and has reacted in a manner such as any human under the same circumstances might act. And in so doing,” he pointed out. “she and Spike will have rid the world of one more source of great evil, as she has spent so many years doing already – and I shall still be incredibly proud of her.”

Willow thought back over the past few years – the painful separation from her best friend that she now knew that Riley had forced upon Buffy – the emotional abuse that had filled their unhappy marriage, and had eventually escalated to physical abuse – and the physical torture he had inflicted on Spike, and so many others like him. Riley had even ordered the deaths of them all, without remorse or pity, or a single thought for the fact that they had once considered him a friend.

Without a doubt, Riley was truly evil.

Willow was just reaching the firm conclusion that she shared the Watcher’s sentiments on the situation, when she heard a quiet gasp of surprise from the older man seated beside her. She looked up at him, then followed his gaze to the source of his wide-eyed expression of joyful disbelief – the weakly stirring figure on the pallet of blankets on the floor beside them.

Julian was waking up.

At that exact same moment, the window on Willow’s laptop that she had left up – just in case – changed suddenly from meaningless white snow to a close up, and for some reason upside-down, image of her best friend’s frowning, puzzled face, as the speakers sputtered to life.

“Willow?” a slightly staticky voice called uncertainly. “Will, are you still listening to this thing?”

Willow rushed back to the microphone on her laptop. “Buffy! Are you – is everything – okay?” she asked cautiously, searching for but not quite finding the right words to the question in her mind.

The tone of her voice must have given her suspicions away, judging from the knowing little grimace on Buffy’s face as she glanced away from the camera toward a different focal point, across the room, and Willow suddenly understood the strange angle of the camera’s picture.

The camera was still attached to Buffy’s shirt, and she was holding it up and looking down at it in order to allow her friend to see her face without removing it from her collar.

Or perhaps to keep her from seeing something else.

Her fears were eased with Buffy’s next words, however, as she assured her, “Yes, Will. Everything’s fine. Or, it’s going to be, really soon. And no, we haven’t killed Riley. And because my ‘soulless, evil *vampire*’ is a better person than I am – we’re not going to,” she added pointedly.

Suddenly, she looked back across the room, distracted by some action taking place, and instructed casually, “You might wanna pull those chains a little tighter, Honey. I mean, it’s not like he’s much of a challenge, but it’s less trouble if he can’t move at all.” A wicked grin crossed the Slayer’s face as she added with a little shrug, “More fun, too.”

“Buffy!” Willow gasped, eyes wide with alarm. “What are you…?”

“Relax, Will,” the Slayer calmly soothed her friend with a reassuring smile. “I said we weren’t going to kill Riley, and we’re not.” She paused, her lips quirking up into a smirk as she added, “Doesn’t mean we’re gonna let him get off scott free, either.”

“But – what are you gonna…”

“Will,” Buffy interrupted again, patiently. “Repeat after me – I don’t wanna know.”

Willow took a deep breath, mentally acknowledging that in this case, Buffy was most likely absolutely right. “I don’t wanna know,” she conceded with a sigh.

“Good.” Buffy nodded in satisfaction. “Now, I need to talk to you, Will. We’re in kind of a situation, here. Riley’s no longer an issue at the moment, and we’re pretty much safe in this room. But the whole place outside this door is crawling with soldiers. We’re pretty much trapped in here.”

“What can I do?” Willow asked, a look of firm determination on her face, her worries over Buffy’s intentions forgotten for the moment. When it came right down to it, she trusted Buffy to make the right call.

“Here’s what I need you to do,” Buffy began, and launched into a quick explanation of her plan.

“Wow!” Willow said gleefully when she had finished, a wide smile on her own face. “That’s awesome, Buffy! This is gonna work so well! We’re gonna get you out of there safely and totally take down Riley’s whole operation all with one really well timed blow!”

“Yep,” Buffy affirmed with a self-satisfied smile. “I am *so* good.”

“Are you gonna quit yapping about how bloody wonderful you are and get over here and enjoy the show, love?” Spike’s voice was full of playful irritation when Willow heard it coming over the speakers from a bit of a distance.

“Gotta go,” Buffy said immediately, and Willow knew by the distinctive sparkle in her friend’s eyes that the girl was hopelessly captured by her former slave, beyond the point of no return in love with Spike, and not trying to hide or repress it in any way. She was in love, and willing to shout it from the rooftops if given the opportunity.

Willow could not have been happier for her.


“So – how does it feel to be helpless, mate?” The vampire’s low voice was almost pleasant with the amusement it held as he addressed the soldier, now chained in the very bonds he had used to restrain his wife – but the underlying menace was clear in his tone.

He wanted this man to pay for what he had done.

The iron shackles cut into the large man’s thick wrists, at least a couple of sizes too large for the chains, designed to hold a woman’s smaller wrists. Spike knew that as Riley was quite a bit larger than him, it had to be a bit more painful for Riley than it had been when Riley had used the chains that were designed for his female slaves to bind *him* before that fateful torture session in Riley’s basement. And then, there was Riley’s broken wrist to consider as well.

Of course – the whole holy water-soaked whip thing served to even the score a bit, in Spike’s opinion.

In fact, as far as the triumphant blonde vampire was concerned – Riley still had quite a bit of pain to endure before he would be even close to paying for all he had put him and Buffy through.

Riley glared at him in defiant silence, not answering his question, determined not to give in to the terror that was rapidly consuming him. Spike shrugged easily. It really didn’t matter; the question had been rhetorical anyway.

And Riley would be screaming in agony soon enough.

“So,” Buffy murmured, clicking off the signal that connected her to Willow and sauntering slowly toward where Spike stood, regarding his captive. “What’s your plan, Sweetheart?” As she reached him, she grabbed a handful of the front of his shirt and pulled him in close to her for a bold, intimate kiss.

“Mmm,” he hummed his pleasure as he pulled back from her with a lazy grin on his lips. “Well – if we’re about torture – this might work, actually.” He glanced toward Riley before meeting Buffy’s eyes again in amusement. “Don’t think G.I Git’s enjoying the show too much.”

She looked over at her bound husband – who looked as if he could not decide whether he’d rather tear them both to pieces or simply be sick then and there at the sight of their obvious affection for each other.

“Maybe he’s bored,” Buffy mused with a smirk. “Maybe you should make him a part of the show, and I’ll watch.”

Spike gave her a dark look, one eyebrow raised in a question – and she suddenly realized what she had just said.

“I mean – a completely and totally *different* show – that involves no form of touching whatsoever unless it involves excruciating pain for Riley,” Buffy hastily corrected herself, with a solemn nod. Her face broke into a smile as she moved slightly away from Spike and sat down on the floor, Indian style, watching expectantly.

She might as well have been a child at a bloody circus.

Her cool, unconcerned manner made Riley finally speak up, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Buffy,” he gasped. “Buffy, you’re not gonna actually *let* him do this, are you?”

Spike gave her a dubious, uncertain look. “You sure you wanna see this, pet?”

“Look – I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, am I?” she pointed out with a shrug. Her eyes narrowed, and her tone lost some of its lightness as she glared at her husband, addressing Spike, though her words were an answer to Riley’s question, “And you may not realize it, but I haven’t forgotten a single thing he’s done to us, Spike. I haven’t forgotten the way he made me feel like I was garbage – hurt you – tried to have my Watcher assassinated, not to mention all of my dearest friends…if you think there’s anything even vaguely resembling concern for him in me – you’re totally wrong.”

Riley’s eyes widened at her hard tone, the deadly serious look in her eyes, as he realized that she meant every word. “Buffy,” he said in a trembling voice. “Buffy, you can’t do this! You can’t *let* him do this! You may have your problems with me, but I’m still a human being! You have to stop him! Don’t let him…”

“First of all,” Buffy interrupted in an almost bored tone, leaning back on her elbows and uncrossing her legs as she regarded him coolly. “I’m not ‘letting’ Spike do anything. I’m pretty much just a spectator – this is his show. So if you wanna beg for mercy…” She paused, a vindictive smile spreading across her face, her satisfaction at the sheer justice of it clear in her eyes.

“…maybe you should be begging *him*.”