FicWad

/Chapter 3: Consequences/

Spike broke off his staring contest with Harris and headed back to his crypt. He was sure Harmony was frantic by now; he hadn't seen her since Buffy had fed herself to him.

His mind still boggled. All right, Glory had said she wanted him dead. But for Buffy to save him, in the way she did--and then not to stake him out of hand when she knew the chip wasn't working? Defending him? Was she bloody possessed?

That question stopped him in his tracks. Was she? Why else would she be nice to him? Relatively nice, anyway. But no. He'd been in the dream. She had a practical reason for keeping him around. And that's what it was, a practical reason. Nothing more. She wasn't even throwing him a bone, since she didn't know he was looking for one.

He stopped outside his crypt and banged his head against the wall a couple of times. What a pathetic poof he'd turned into. Bloody hell. He opened the door and walked in.

"Blondie Bear!" Harmony squealed, running across the room and throwing herself into his arms. "I was so worried!"

"Yeah, Harm, I know." He patted her absently on the back. His chip had fried. He could go hunting with her--

No. Bad thoughts, those were. Harmony was a source of temptation, pulling him back toward his old life of killing, maiming, and terror. He needed to decide, right now, where his priorities lay. If he loved Buffy, then he needed to prove to her that he was worthy of love in return. Not bloody well "beneath her."

He pulled away from Harmony and took a deep breath. "Harmony...I need you to go."

"What? Why?"

The hurt on her face steeled his resolve; this would only be more difficult later. And there was no easy way to do this. "I don't love you. This isn't going anywhere, and it's time for me to move on."

Her eyes narrowed. "There's someone else, isn't there? Oh. Migod. You've been, like, cheating on me!"

He spread his hands. "No, pet, it's not like that at all..."

"Who is it?" she demanded. He could see her wheels turning, and a "click" when realization dawned. "It's Buffy, isn't it? You /freak/! She is so going to stake you when she finds out that you like her. I mean, God, Spike, I flunked Algebra twice, but even I know that vampire plus Slayer equals bad news." She curled her lip. "Fine! You want to go panting after the Slayer like some kind of sick puppy, you just go right ahead. Just don't come crawling back to me when she hands you your head on a platter." She stomped over to the door. "I'll come back for my stuff when you're not around. Ugh. I can't even stand to look at you right now." The door slammed emphatically behind her.

Spike sat down in his chair, putting his head in his hands. "That went well."

###

"I haven't seen Riley since last night," Buffy told Willow at lunch the next day. "He didn't show up in class today, either. I'm getting worried about him."

"Well, he had a big shock, Buffy. You can't just expect him to act like nothing happened."

"I don't expect that at all. But it would help to talk it out," Buffy said grouchily. "It's not like him to just run away like this."

"Tell you what. If he hasn't shown up by tomorrow, I'll do a locator spell. But I'll bet he's just lying low and thinking about what he wants to say."

"I hope so." Buffy poked at her salad, not really hungry. "Thanks, Will."

"Hey, what are best friends for?"

###

Spike prowled the streets that night, looking for trouble. He spotted a familiar figure skulking in an alley, in a decidedly unfamiliar manner. His eyebrows crawled up his forehead when he saw that figure meet up with a female vampire he knew and they melted into the back of the alley together. He followed at a distance, and it didn't really surprise him when they walked through a door into a notorious warehouse together.

Well. Wasn't this an interesting turn of events? He had a sensation of unseemly glee as he realized what it meant, and how the Slayer would react when she found out.

Spike was a little nervous when he slipped into the inner sanctum of Buffy's bedroom. "Buffy, wake up." He wasn't brave--or stupid--enough to actually walk over and touch her.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, clutching the sheet to herself. "Spike? What in hell are you doing here? Every time you show up like this, you risk all of your parts, you know that?"

He sighed. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't have a good reason. As usual, I'm here to help you, and I--" He suddenly realized something. "Are you naked under there?"

She rolled her eyes and adjusted the sheet. "Get out."

He shook himself mentally. This wasn't the time. "No, I'm serious. I mean, not about the naked part, I mean..." Oh, the hell with it. He craned his neck trying to look under the blankets.

"Get out or I'll drop you out head first."

Bad Spike. Stop that. "I wanna show you something."

"This better be good, Spike," Buffy said a few minutes later as he led her through the alley.

"Don't know that I'd put it in exactly those terms, but you need to see this." He pushed the door open and they entered together. Buffy looked around in the candle-lit dimness, noting the trash, mattresses, and bathtubs scattered around the room--and the vampires sucking on willing victims.

"What...?" she started.

"Don't stop, Slayer. This isn't what we're here for." His keen eyes had seen that the couple he was searching for wasn't on this level, so he headed towards some stairs on the other side of the floor, Buffy in tow.

It was gloomier up there, and just as messy. Spike cocked his head and gave a snort of satisfaction as his nose told him what he wanted to know. He pushed a door open and silently invited the Slayer to step through ahead of him.

She inhaled sharply. "Riley?"

Spike looked over her shoulder to see the former Captain Cardboard and his vampire mate leaning over a girl, his teeth sunk in her right arm, the vampiress' fangs in her left. Startled, Riley looked up when he heard Buffy's voice, not releasing the arm from his mouth. Yellow eyes glowed under a ridged forehead, and he growled at her.

Buffy stood frozen for one interminable second--then turned, shoved past Spike, and ran out. Riley shrugged and went back to his meal.

Might be a bad idea to leave the Slayer alone right now. She'd just had a rather nasty shock. Spike followed her, adroitly avoiding a pair of guards moving to intercept him. Catching up with her a few blocks away, he put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.

Bad move. She turned around and hit him as hard as she could, sending him flying. "Don't touch me."

He picked himself up. "Buffy..."

"Shut up! Just--shut up! You have no idea how close I am to killing you right now." She leaned against the wall of the shop and slid down to a sitting position. "Oh, God. Riley..." She raised her tear-streaked face to look at Spike. "Why?"

He knelt next to her, careful to keep his distance. "I dunno, pet. Sometimes people do daft things when their lives ain't just peaches and cream. Looks like he was visiting a vamp whore and it got a bit out of hand."

"Whore? He was /paying/...Oh my /God/. How does something like this go on in my town and I don't know about it?" She stared at him. "Did you ever--"

"Oh, bloody hell, no! What do you take me for?" he said indignantly.

"A soulless, evil, thing," she answered without heat. She rested her forehead on her bent knees, a sob catching in her chest. "And now Riley's one too...What am I going to tell the others?"

"Not to put too fine a point on it, but you also need to decide exactly what you're going to do about this. I know you've had a vampire boyfriend before, but Angel had a soul to keep him in line. They don't just hand those out as the toy surprise in a Happy Meal, you know."

She lifted her head, hope shining on her face. "Willow could give him one. She knows how."

###

She called an emergency meeting at the Magic Box. The Scoobies sat around the table in various states of shock. Anya sat in Xander's lap, while he held her a little tighter than was strictly necessary. Willow and Tara sat very close together, and Giles kept cleaning his glasses. Spike took up his customary spot, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed over his chest.

"So, what do you guys think?" Buffy asked. "Can it be done?"

Giles put his glasses back on. "I'm not really sure it's such a good idea, Buffy. Remember that the ensouling spell is a vengeance curse, not a blessing...and depriving him of the opportunity to achieve happiness isn't necessarily the most compassionate act in the world. The curse might have even been specific to Angel; I'm not sure it'll work on another vampire." He took his glasses off and polished them some more. "As much as I liked Riley, it might be kindest to just stake him."

Spike straightened and raised his hand. "I'm in."

"Shut up, Spike," said several voices, and he leaned back again with a disgruntled expression.

"Will?" Buffy pleaded.

"I can do it," Willow said with confidence. "It's the first spell I ever did; I'm pretty sure I can duplicate it."

Tara spoke up timidly. "Wouldn't it be better to do some research first? I think Mr. Giles is right. This is a pretty unknown quantity."

"What about the happiness clause?" Anya said. "Would you want him back if you couldn't have sex with him?"

"Ahn--" Xander started.

"What? Are you saying that if I got vamped, you'd curse me with a soul and a proviso that I couldn't ever have sex again? That would be crueler than dusting me. I mean, Vengeance Demon here. I know cruel."

"Guys." Buffy's voice was desperate and sad. "It's Riley. As far as I know, he hasn't killed anyone yet. We can't just stake him out of hand."

"I can," Spike said.

"Shut up, Spike," replied the same chorus of voices as before.

"I'll get the ingredients together while they hit the books," Willow said, taking Buffy's hand. "If we can do it, we will, Buffy."

###

The vampire bordello was a hive of activity as the inhabitants cleared out whatever personal belongings they had. The Slayer knew of their existence; now they had to move. "Do you know where we're headed?" Riley asked Marissa.

"Not yet," his Sire replied. "They haven't told me."

They joined the crowd heading for the exit, but were stopped by a burly vampire with a baseball bat. "Where do you two think you're going?"

"Um..." Marissa looked uncomfortable and a little hunted. "Wherever the new setup is?"

"You're the ones that brought the Slayer down on our heads. No way are you coming with us." He tapped the bat into his hand menacingly.

"But where will we go?"

"That's not my concern. If you follow us, we'll kill you. Got me?"

She lowered her eyes. "Yeah."

She and Riley stood aside as the other vamps filed out. When they had all left, Riley slammed his fist into the wall, cursing. "The Slayer, huh?" His yellow eyes glittered in the candlelight. "Well, maybe they'll change their minds when I bring them her head."

Marissa embraced him, stroking his back soothingly and resting her head on his chest. She hadn't meant to take things this far with him, but since she had, she was happy about it. He was much smarter than most of her clients, and he filled a need in her that she had been unaware of before she had turned him. "Taking on the Slayer's not safe. You're not nearly strong enough to do that yet."

"No? Then we go hunting tonight." He bared his teeth. "Dangerous, rough, and occasionally bumpy in the forehead region? I'll show her how dark I can be."

###

"Buffy, luv, coming back here isn't the best notion you've ever had."

"Don't call me that. And I can't just sit around and wait for them to figure out the ensoulment spell." She looked around the deserted warehouse. "Looks like they all left anyway." Some candles remained lit, and her expression hardened. "Well, let's make sure they don't come back." She strode through the room and systematically knocked the candles over, setting the trash scattered throughout the place on fire.

Spike, a little more sensitive to flames than she was, stationed himself by the door. As the warehouse turned into a conflagration behind her, she walked calmly past him--"Coming, Spike?"--and out into the alley.

"Now, see, that was just a really bad idea." Riley's voice was cynical and amused.

Spike followed Buffy out to discover Riley and his Sire confronting her. "It's not him, Slayer," he murmured, hearing her breath catch in her throat. "Just a demon wearing his face."

Good. Her jaw clenched and her hand dove into her pocket for a stake. "How's that new lifestyle working out for you, Riley?"

He wiped a smear of redness off his lip, smiling nastily. "Pretty good. I'm introducing Marissa here to the concept that blood tastes better when your victim is screaming in fear instead of just lying there and getting sucked."

"Glad to see that hanging out with a skanky ho has expanded your horizons."

"Better than hanging out with a castrating bitch."

Buffy lunged at him with the stake; he slapped her hand down and sidestepped, while Marissa circled around to get at her from behind.

Spike moved to take Marissa on. "No you don't."

###

"I can do this," Willow said.

"I'm still not entirely sure it's a good idea." Giles cleaned his glasses yet again.

"But, Giles, it's Riley. We have to do what we can for him."

He finger-combed his hair. "I realize how we all feel, Willow. I like the young man too." Putting his glasses back on, he said, "I just can't help but think that our action in this case is somewhat precipitous."

"Well, it's kind of an emergency, isn't it?" Xander asked. "We need to get that soul in him before he does something terrible."

"Yes, quite." Giles gave up and put his glasses back on. "Do you have everything you need, Willow?"

She looked around at the table. "Stinky herbs, check. Orb of Thesula, check. Just need someone to do the chanting with me."

"You are going to pay for that Orb, right?" Anya said.

Willow didn't know whether to laugh or roll her eyes. "Ready, everyone?"

They all took a deep breath.

###

Riley grinned with savage joy. For the first time ever, he felt like he was on equal footing with Buffy. They exchanged a series of kicks and punches, and he could tell that her heart just wasn't in this--and if she wasn't careful, it was going to get her killed.

"What's the matter, Buffy?" he taunted. "Feels like you're still holding back. Of course, you've always held back with me, so why should now be any different?"

"Yeah?" She kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying back a few feet. "Can't imagine why. I also can't imagine why you'd go to /that/--" She indicated Marissa, barely holding her own fighting Spike. "--when you had me."

"You never gave me what I needed." He came back at her, grabbing her arm and flinging her into the wall.

"Oh, so your sudden conversion to evil fanginess is my fault? Un-freaking-believable." She pushed off the wall, using the momentum to roundhouse kick his jaw.

"You never understood me, Buffy. You never needed me." He punched her in the face.

"Funny you should say that. Just goes to show that you never knew me at all." She gave him a one-two to the nose and sternum, keeping the stake curled away. She'd decided, upon hurried reflection, not to use it just yet.

"Yeah? That why you went to Spike when your Mom was in the hospital, and I had to find out from him what was going on?" His foot connected with her stomach.

"I didn't 'go to Spike.' He was right there." She uppercut his jaw. "He was there more than you were, in fact."

"Well, maybe if you'd paid more attention to the actual human boyfriend than the demonic vampire hanger-on, I would have been around more." He aimed a blow at her face, but she ducked under it and hit him in the solar plexus.

They hadn't been watching to the battle between Spike and Marissa, but were abruptly reminded when Spike threw her into Riley, knocking them both to the ground. Marissa picked herself up and leaped at Buffy.

###

Willow's head snapped backward, then down. Gazing at the Orb, she began chanting steadily in Rumanian. "Acum! Acum!" she finished. The Orb glowed brightly for a brief moment and went dark.

###

Buffy sidestepped, and Marissa missed her. The vampiress staggered back to her feet, gasping, moaning in pain. Her eyes glowed red, then went back to normal. "Riley? What...I feel..." Tears streamed down her face. "What's going on?"

"Doesn't really matter, sweetheart," Buffy said, and plunged her stake into Marissa's heart.

"You /bitch/!" Riley roared, as his mate burst into dust. But as both Spike and Buffy advanced upon him, he decided that discretion was the better part of valor. "This isn't over. Not by a long shot." He turned and ran.

Buffy and Spike stared at each other. "What just happened?" she said.

###

"It should have worked." Willow was frustrated.

"I think it did, Will," Buffy tried to reassure her. "It just hit the wrong vampire, is all."

"Good job it didn't hit me, Red," Spike piped up. "I'd have been very bloody unhappy if I'd been nailed with the damn thing instead."

"Uh, guys?" Xander said. "What's the next step? I hate to say this, but if Riley's gone over to the evil side, then we need to take care of it sooner rather than later. The guy's a trained soldier; he can do a lot of damage if we just let him run around loose."

"You might have to start thinking seriously about staking him, Buffy," Giles said uncomfortably. "I realize you don't want to, but you must know that what's walking around looking like him and speaking with his voice isn't really Riley. It's a demon masquerading as him. As such, it falls under your purview as the Slayer."

She sighed. "I know. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. Thanks for trying, Will." She gave her friend a shaky smile.

"The boy seemed a bit bitter," Spike said. "Wouldn't surprise me if he started coming after you in a pretty personal way, Slayer."

Realization hit her. "Mom, Dawn! I have to tell them--"

"We called them while you were out. They know not to let him in," said Tara.

"Of course, he could just burn the house down over their heads," Anya pointed out.

"Ahn," Xander started.

"No, she's right," Buffy said sadly. "That's exactly what he'd do. I should move them somewhere safe."

"Safe being a relative term in Sunnydale." Spike's tone was sarcastic. He caught Buffy looking at him, a speculative expression on her face. "Oh, no, Slayer. That is such a bad idea..."

"You got a better one? Just temporary," Buffy wheedled. "Until I can get them out of town, someplace that's, like, not here. Maybe Angel can take them in."

Spike let out a put-upon sigh. "Fine. Temporary, mind you."

"I'll call Angel in the morning."

"You'd better. I just got rid of one encumbrance. I'm not overeager to take on two more."

"Yes, Spike." Xander crossed his arms over his chest. "We're all painfully aware that the chip doesn't work anymore."

"Just as I'm painfully aware that you're looking for any bloody excuse to turn me into a big pile of dust. But that's not what I was talking about, you git. I tossed Harm out."

"You did?" Buffy was surprised. "But where did she go?"

###
"Stupid, English...meanie!" Harmony kicked a rock across the campus commons. "Slayer-loving weirdo! She is so going to stake him when she finds out."

"We can hope so, can't we?" The voice in the shadows startled her. Even more so when the owner of the voice stepped out into the open, and she saw who it was. "Or maybe we'll get lucky and they'll kill each other."

"Aren't you Buffy's boyfriend?" she asked suspiciously.

"Used to be." Riley flashed fangs and brow ridges at her. "Of course, I think it would be a lot more satisfying to kill them myself. How about you?"

She walked with him across the lawns of UC Sunnydale. "Oh, sure. All we have to do is defeat the Slayer and a vampire who's killed two of them. Have you forgotten that Buffy's job is to--" She made a stabbing motion. "--slay us?"

"Yeah, well, I think I might have something to say about that." He stopped her outside Lowell House. "Hungry? Let's grab someone to eat, and we'll discuss it over dinner."

TBC...