Chapter Fifteen

“No.”

“What do you mean no?”

“I mean I’m not letting you do it.”

“Not letting me? How are you gonna stop me?”

She had him there. If Buffy wanted them to split in order to catch both of the demons they’d spent the better part of the night tracking there wasn’t really much he could do about it. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t argue with her. He kind of liked arguing with her.

“Remember what happened last time? When you went up against Adam? You ended up unconscious.”

“Oh please,” Buffy scoffed. “It was just a bit of a knock to the head. I’m fine.” Seeing the worry in his eyes she smiled sweetly at him. “Look, Adam is extremely powerful and that’s something we will have to deal with when we find him. But Spike, this is just a piddly little demon with the IQ of a dog. I think I can handle it.”

Sighing loudly Spike cricked his neck to release some pent-up frustration. Conceding defeat, he was still determined to make his point. Wagging a finger in her face he demanded, “You be careful. With Adam still on the loose and you spoiling their schedule The Initiative have soldiers lurking behind every tree.”

Touched by his concern Buffy leaned forward to kiss the tip of the finger that was wagging in her face. “You’re cute when you’re protective.”

Spike adopted the sternest expression he could, considering his finger was still tingling from her unexpected kiss. “Yeah well, we can get to that later. Right now, let’s get this over with shall we?”

Buffy smirked at him. “Absolutely. We’ll meet back here and then we can get on with hunting for Adam.”

Nodding, Spike dropped a quick kiss on her lips before they headed quickly in opposite directions.

**********

The demon Buffy had gone after was lying dead at his feet. She’d obviously taken him down easily; there was barely any evidence of a fight. So where the hell was she?

Frowning, Spike looked around, searching for some clue as to what had happened. When he saw nothing he closed his eyes and concentrated on his enhanced sense of smell. After a few moments he opened his eyes and began to move, following Buffy’s unique scent. It didn’t take him long to realise where he was heading and with every step he took a sense of foreboding grew within him. The college campus. Buffy had agreed to meet back up with him as soon as she’d slain the demon. She knew the dangers of patrolling without him right now; especially in this area.

Riley. The name thundered through Spike’s brain and he turned immediately toward Giles’ house, a soft growl emanating from his chest. Weapons. He needed weapons and he needed help. He might not be able to fight humans himself but he’d be damned if he’d let them lay a finger on his girl.

**********

Spike burst through Giles’ door wearing a scowl blacker than his outfit. Heading straight for the weapon’s cupboard he barely spared a glance for the occupants of the room. “Weapons all round people. We’re leaving in 30 seconds.”

When Giles, Xander and Willow just sat there staring at him in bewilderment he paused long enough to announce, “They got her.”

“What?!” Giles cried in dismay. “What happened? You were supposed to make sure they never found her.”

“She insisted we split up to take down the two demons Red found faster. I tried to talk her out of it but she wouldn’t listen. After I killed the demon I was following I went looking for her. Buffy killed her demon alright, but she was nowhere to be found. I followed her scent in the direction of the college campus. She wouldn’t have gone off without me. Riley has her, I just know it.”

Xander glared at Spike. “You bastard! You let Riley get to her, didn’t you. I knew you’d stab her in the back the moment it was turned.”

“I would never betray her.” Blinded by fury Spike swung at Xander without thought. They both howled in pain as Spike’s fist connected with Xander’s jaw, setting off the chip in his skull. “Ahhh, damn it!” Spike clutched at his head until the pain began to ease. Looking up he saw the confusion on Giles’ and Willow’s faces and he snapped. “Stop staring and mount up. We’re getting her back. Now!”

“Spike slow down.” Giles tried to reason with him. “If we go in there half-cocked we’ll never get to her before they stop us.”

Shaking his head Spike tramped toward the door. “I don’t care. I’m going.”

“Why are you so–?” Stopping abruptly Giles stared at Spike in shock. “Oh bloody hell,” he exclaimed suddenly. “You’re in love with her aren’t you?”

Stopping in his tracks Spike slowly turned around, prepared to face the music.

Giles folded his arms, facing Spike with fatherly indignation. “Does Buffy know about this?”

Spike nodded curtly.

“And she hasn’t killed you?” Giles lifted his eyebrows in surprise.

Spike said nothing, simply stared at Giles steadily.

Slowly realisation dawned on Giles’ face. “Oh God no.”

“Get a grip Spike. Buffy would never feel anything but loathing for you,” Xander spat angrily.

Willow smacked Xander lightly on the arm. “Xander, I think we can assume she’s not much with the loathing at the moment.”

Giles was too busy cleaning his glasses to take any notice of Xander’s rather inventive expletives. “I can’t believe this is happening again,” he muttered to himself. “What is she thinking?”

“Might I make a suggestion?!” Spike’s voice boomed out across the room. An abrupt silence fell as the other three stared at him in surprise. “Could we possibly argue over mine and Buffy’s love life after we rescue her from The Initiative? They injected holy water into my veins, and pierced my heart with every kind of metal known to man, all just to see what would happen. What do you think they’ll do to the slayer?”

When Spike saw the looks of horror that crossed their faces he was satisfied that he had their attention. “Right then,” he continued. “You want to plan Giles? Let’s plan. You’ve got five minutes.”