Chapter 48: A Deal With the Devil
“Hey, Spike.”
Spike peered down the alley. “Clem?”
“Yeah. Can I talk to you?”
The other demons appeared nervous, and Spike readily slipped down the dank corridor. “What’s up, mate?”
“Thought you might want to know about the rumors I’ve been hearing,” Clem said, shifting from foot to foot.
Spike frowned. “You know I appreciate whatever you can tell me, Clem. What’s goin’ on this time?”
“I heard that Glory’s hired some vamps.”
Spike didn’t like the sound of that at all. “To do what?”
“To get their hands on you. She said she’d give them the Gem of Amara in exchange for you, but she wants you alive.” Clem frowned. “I really didn’t like the sound of that.”
“You an’ me both,” Spike muttered, thinking quickly. “Look, don’t say anythin’ to Buffy, alright?”
Clem shook his head. “That’s okay. I know she’s your fiancée, but she still makes me nervous.”
“She wouldn’t hurt you,” Spike said absently, still thinking about what Clem had told him. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Be careful!” the gentle demon called after him.
Spike knew that he ought to tell Buffy, but he didn’t want to give her one more thing to worry about. After all, they were already aware that Glory was after him, and that the vampires in town would like to get their hands on the ring; it didn’t matter all that much that they’d joined forces.
At least that’s what he kept telling himself.
~~~~~
“How do I look?”
“You look amazing.” Xander knew enough to know that there was only one right answer to that question. She wore the earrings he’d given her, though, and they sparkled in her earlobes. They were only diamond chips for now, but he’d promised that once he was making more money, he’d replace them with something better.
She smiled brilliantly at him. “Thank you. We should probably get going if we don’t want to be late.”
He had to admit that he was a little nervous about this little outing. He hadn’t introduced Anya to the guys he worked with yet, and it was hard to know how they’d take her. The Scoobies didn’t mind her, but then they knew she’d been a vengeance demon for 1200 years; the expectations were a little different.
“You know, An,” he began, “maybe you shouldn’t mention sex tonight.”
From her expression, she appeared both insulted and suspicious. “Because it would embarrass you?”
“My sex life isn’t something I want my co-workers to know about,” Xander said. “If they did, they’d probably be jealous, and that could make things awkward.”
Anya brightened at that argument. “They would be jealous, wouldn’t they?”
He relaxed; clearly the argument had been a stoke of genius, although it was always hard to tell what Anya believed, and what she chose to let him think she believed. “Probably. I’m pretty sure I have the best girlfriend.”
“That goes without saying,” she replied smugly. “Very well. I’ll try not to mention sex.”
“I appreciate it.”
She kissed him. “Just as long as you promise to pay me back tonight.”
Xander smiled. He had no problem with that plan.
~~~~~
“Come on, Dawn,” Buffy said impatiently. “I’m supposed to be meeting Spike right now.”
“Like you didn’t just see him,” Dawn replied breezily, coming out of her bedroom. “It’s not that far to walk. I could go by myself.”
Buffy gestured outside. “Hello? It’s dark, remember, and you’re not supposed to be going anywhere by yourself. Let’s go.”
“Be careful tonight, Buffy,” Joyce called from the kitchen. “You’ll call if you decide to stay over at Spike’s?”
“Sure, I will.”
“Call when you’re ready to come home, Dawn,” Joyce ordered. “Rupert or I will come and get you.”
“Giles is coming over?” Dawn asked, flipping her long hair outside of her coat.
Joyce raised her eyebrows. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“I could ask Amber’s mom to drive me back,” Dawn said.
Joyce flushed slightly. “I think you’d better call first.”
Buffy’s eyes widened. “Mom!”
Joyce met her gaze. “What?”
She sighed. “Never mind. Let’s go, Dawnie.”
Once they were outside, Dawn glanced over at her sister. “I thought you said it was going to get less weird.”
“Hasn’t it?” Buffy asked, not wanting to address the topic of their mom having sex with her Watcher.
The younger girl made a face. “I guess a little.”
“There you go,” Buffy replied.
“But they’re—”
“They’re grown-ups, Dawn,” she said. “They’re allowed.”
Dawn sighed. “It’s really gross.”
Buffy made a face. “Tell me about it.”
~~~~~
Willow glanced over at Oz, who was standing by the window again. He kept going back and forth between the couch and the front window. “Is something wrong?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I’m just restless tonight.”
She frowned. “Is it a full moon?”
“No. Something else.”
Concerned now, Willow joined him by the window, trying to calm herself enough to stretch out her senses, hoping that she would be able to sense what he did. She wasn’t quite as sensitive, however, and so she couldn’t quite catch what was making him jittery. “Do you want to go for a walk? Maybe we’ll run into Spike and Buffy on patrol.”
Oz shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea tonight.”
“Too wolfish?”
“Yeah, something like that.” He turned to look at her, and the hunger in his eyes was almost frightening—almost. “Let’s go to bed.”
Willow didn’t comment on the earliness of the hour; in truth, she didn’t mind a bit. She knew she was in for a wild ride, and she was looking forward to it.
~~~~~
“I thought Spike and Buffy were supposed to meet us,” Mairead observed.
Tara rubbed her hands together to ward off the chill. “They were, about fifteen minutes ago. I have no idea what’s going on.” Her girlfriend had her hands buried in her pockets, but she didn’t seem to be bothered by the chill the way Tara was. She supposed England’s winters were a little colder than California’s.
“Do you think we should wait?” Mairead asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t know. If something is wrong, maybe we should wait. Buffy and Spike will know where to find us.”
“And if we stay put, you may freeze,” her girlfriend observed. “Let’s start walking towards his place. At least then, we’re sure to run into them if they come looking.”
Tara agreed readily, liking the idea of moving to get her blood flowing again. “Okay.”
Walking along in silence, Mairead tucked her hand through Tara’s arm. Although they stole time alone together as often as possible, there was something about walking along the streets after dark that was magical. The streets were quiet in this part of town, and it almost seemed as though they were the only two people in the world.
They were only a couple of blocks from Spike’s apartment when they saw Buffy hurrying towards them, her expression panicked. “Buffy?” Tara called. “Is something wrong?”
“I don’t know,” she said breathlessly. “Spike’s not at his place, and it looks like there was a fight.”
“Let’s go,” Mairead said.
The three of them hurried towards his place in a worried silence. “Can you guys do a locator spell?” Buffy asked after a few minutes.
“I’m sure we can,” Tara said, casting a look at her girlfriend. Locator spells weren’t always helpful, or successful, particularly when there were strong magical sources nearby. Glory would probably qualify.
When they arrived, the apartment was a mess. It was clear that there had been a fight, and that Spike had not gone easily—not that Tara would have expected any less.
“It was like this when I arrived,” Buffy explained. “I was late, because I had to take Dawn to a friend’s house.”
Mairead knelt down by the door. “I don’t think you would have arrived in time, even had you not been late, Buffy. This blood is nearly dry.”
“Whose blood?” she asked.
The dark haired witch rose to her feet. “It’s impossible to tell. We could use it for the locator spell, but if it isn’t Spike’s, I don’t think it will do much good.”
“It might if it leads us to another vampire, though,” Buffy said. “If they were after the ring, we’ll need to know who has it, and where Spike is.”
Tara exchanged a look with her girlfriend. “Um, Buffy,” Tara began. “Don’t you think that the vampires would have just killed him and taken the ring?”
“There really wouldn’t be any point in leaving him alive,” Mairead mused, then winced. “I’m sorry, Buffy.”
“No, you’re right.” Buffy swallowed, but tried to keep a brave face. “Look, can you guys do a locator spell? I’m going to round up Graham, and maybe some of the other soldiers, just in case we need the extra help.”
Tara agreed readily enough. “I’m sure he’ll be fine, Buffy. Spike’s tough.”
Buffy smiled tightly. “I know.” But she didn’t sound very certain.
~~~~~
Graham settled the holster over his shoulder. “We’ll find him, Buffy.”
“Thanks. I don’t even know where to start. Mairead and Tara were going to do a locator spell, and hopefully that will narrow it down for us. I mean, I know Glory was after him, and some of the vampires in town wanted the ring, but—” She stopped when she saw the expression on his face. “Was it something I said?”
“I’m still not used to the magic stuff,” he admitted. “Although you think I would be by now.”
Buffy shrugged. “It takes getting used to.”
“So what’s with the ring?” Graham asked.
“Ever wonder how Spike gets around during the day?”
“That’s the secret?”
Buffy shrugged. “Pretty much. It also makes him invulnerable to a lot of other things, which is fine when it’s Spike. If another vamp got their hands on it, though, it would be really bad news.”
“Do you think that’s what happened?”
“I have no idea,” she admitted. “Mairead and Tara seemed to think that if that was it, Spike would be dust by now.”
“Makes sense,” Graham admitted. He regretted the words almost as soon as they were out of his mouth. “I’m sure he’s not dead, Buffy.”
“No, you’re not,” she replied. “I’m not even sure, but I feel like I would know. We’ve been together in one way or another for so long now, you would think I’d know.”
Graham didn’t reply. He knew it didn’t always work like that.
“Why did you become a soldier?” Buffy asked, as they climbed into his Jeep.
He raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Distract me. Tell me why you got into this line of work. I’ve got a destiny; you don’t.”
Graham frowned, trying to remember. “I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
He realized that even if he didn’t remember why he’d joined up, he would have to make something up. “Everyone in my family seemed to do a tour,” he admitted. “My grandpa, my dad, my uncles. There wasn’t a lot of money, so it seemed like a good way to pay for college.”
“And this part?”
“They offered me a spot on an elite team, doing something real.” Graham had wanted adventure, and that’s what the Initiative had offered. That’s who generally joined the Secret Forces—the men who wanted to make a real difference, and the ones who enjoyed the challenge.
There had also been those who had liked the kill, but they’d all left Sunnydale.
“I get that,” Buffy said.
“I thought you might.” He pulled up in front of the small house. “Anything else you want to know?”
“Are you dating anybody?” Buffy asked.
Graham smiled. “Do you have any single friends?” When she chuckled, he knew he’d done his job.
~~~~~
The group of vampires had burst in unannounced, in the kind of numbers that made it next to impossible to fight against. Spike had done his best, but they had overwhelmed him quickly, and he’d been knocked unconscious early in the game. When he finally woke up, his hands were chained above his head in a familiar position.
“Bloody hell,” Spike muttered.
“You finally decided to join us, I see,” Glory said, standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. “It’s about time.”
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he replied, his words dripping with sarcasm.
She shrugged. “Whatever. I’ve been having your friends clean up after me.”
He looked past her to about eight vampires, with half a dozen bodies in front of them. “What—”
“Thanks, guys,” Glory said. “That’s all I need.”
“Where’s our reward?” one of them demanded.
She stared at him, clearly affronted. “Excuse me? You’re alive, aren’t you? And I let you have my leftovers. I don’t see what the problem is.”
“The ring,” said a second. “You promised.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Glory held up the ring and stared at it critically. “Maybe I should just destroy it.”
Spike held his breath. On the one hand, it would probably be better if Glory did crush it; that way, Buffy wouldn’t have to worry about getting it back.
He still wanted it, though—for the wedding and the wedding night, if for nothing else.
She shrugged. “You know, giving it to you will probably make the Slayer crazy, and I’m okay with that.” Glory tossed the ring towards the group. “Take it and get out.”
The smallest and quickest vampire of the lot snatched the ring out of the air, then took off running for the door, the rest of them following. Spike knew that they would battle it out, leaving only the strongest behind—and leaving Buffy with a formidable opponent.
This was not good.
Glory turned her attention back to him. “I’m sure you know what I invited you here for.”
“That was an invitation?” Spike asked mockingly. “Thought that was supposed to be engraved or something. I even have a mailbox these days, so I know you didn’t send it through the regular post.”
The slap across his face felt a lot more like getting hit with a two-by-four. “I want my Key, vampire, and I want it now.”
“Can’t do that,” Spike said, knowing that they were now getting down to business. Unlike the last time, he knew that Buffy would come for him. The only problem was that he didn’t want to risk her. His best chance was to enrage her so that she knocked him loose again, then he could run.
Assuming that he was still capable of running at that point.
Glory’s eyes narrowed. “Is that right? Well, you’re going to be begging to tell me before this is all over.”
Spike snorted. “Is that right? I’ll have you know that I was tortured by the best in the business for weeks, an’ I didn’t crack.”
“Then they must not have wanted it badly enough.”
He swallowed hard.
~~~~~
Buffy wanted to pace, but she knew that it would only serve as a distraction. Tara and Mairead had nearly finished up the spell preparations by the time she and Graham had arrived at the house, and now they were still trying to figure out where Spike actually was.
She was scared stiff with all of the horrible possibilities going through her mind. She just wanted to find him, and she wanted him to be in one piece. Buffy didn’t think that was too much to ask for, given everything they’d been through.
“I think he’s at the high rise,” Tara finally said.
Buffy stiffened. “Glory has him. Shit. Why didn’t I think of that?”
“You’re beside yourself with worry, that’s why,” Mairead replied. “And rightly so. What are we going to need?”
“An arsenal,” Buffy replied. “Or something.” She put a hand to her head. “I don’t know. The last time I faced Glory, I had a robot and a troll hammer. We’re going to have to deal with her scabby little hobbits, too.”
“I’ll get Willow and Oz,” Tara said. “We’ll be able to do more with them helping.”
“Let me call the other guys,” Graham offered. “I don’t know what we’ll be able to do, but at the very least, we’ll be able to provide a distraction.”
Buffy nodded, trying frantically to come up with another idea. It didn’t seem like enough, but she knew it would have to suffice.