"I 'ave to get t' the cemetery before she sacrifices that stupid

boy," Spike said, hopping into his car.

He pulled away, tires squealing, leaving a bewildered Dalton in

the driveway.

"I thought you would be happy!" he yelled at the back of the

car.

Spike saw the confusion on the vampire's face, but he didn't

have time to explain, nor did he want to. He wasn't sure he understood

what was going on, let alone how to explain it to someone else.

He wasn't far from the graveyard, but that five-minute drive had

to be one of the longest in his life. He saw the light ahead change to

red and he floored it, speeding through the intersection.

"Yeah, honk, that's really gonna make me rethink my actions.

Bloody idiots," he said, hearing the blaring horns of his fellow

drivers.

He whipped around the corner and onto a field across from the

cemetery. He flung the car door open and took off running, hopping over

a wall. Dalton said the ritual was Egyptian, so she would need a symbol

of its heritage. He leapt over headstones and dodged low tree limbs,

heading for the pyramid he had seen. He couldn't remember exactly where

it was. He cursed himself silently for not paying more attention to

detail.

He tripped over a tree root and stumbled into a clearing.

Looking up from the ground, he saw the top of the stone monument.

Xander stood, tied naked to the pyramid, begging for his life,

"Come on, guys. You don't want my blood. I eat all sorts of junk food.

Cheesy chips and doughnuts flow through my veins. The cholesterol will

kill you!"

"Gag 'im," Drusilla said to three vampires who stood nearby.

"'Is voice is an affront to the gods and it 'urts Miss Edith's ears."

She sat her doll down and picked up the translation Dalton had

given her. She studied it and lit incense, readying for the ritual. Her

face was darkened with clay, her lips stained with berries, and lines

drawn out from her eyes. She glanced at the words of the ritual again

before saying them aloud.

"Osiris, god of the lower world, judge of the dead, please 'ear

my cries. I call on you and your sister-wife, Isis, goddess of

fertility.

Please grant my request. Receive my offering of this virgin. May 'is

blood--"

Spike knocked her down, interrupting the invocation. She

shrieked as she landed in a fresh grave.

"You got my dress all dirty!" she said, charging him.

Spike sidestepped her advance and she crashed to the ground

again, yelling to the minions for help.

They hesitated for a moment before attacking. They all feared

him, but they finally decided that there were enough of them to take him

down without too much of a struggle. Two of them approached him from

behind

while a third kept him occupied from the front. The three of them and

Dru were too much for him to handle on his own. They wrestled him to the

ground and bound him with rope, tying him up next to Xander. She sent

the other vampires away after making sure his bonds were secure.

"Bad Spike. You've been very naughty. Now I 'ave t' tie you up

and you can't join in the fun. You can watch, though. Then we can go

'ome

and 'ave a party. Mummy will forget all about 'er little Spike tryin' t'

ruin all the fun," Dru said, rubbing his chest.

"Pet, I wasn't tryin' to ruin your fun. It's just not a good

idea to kill one of the Slayer's mates. She'll kill--" he said before

she interrupted him.

"Shhhhhh. You must be quiet or Mummy will 'ave t' gag you. Miss

Edith says you mustn't talk because the gods won't listen to a man.

They'll only listen to Princess. They're a lot like us, Spike. Brother

and

sister. 'Usband and wife. Not dead and not alive. They'll understand us.

They'll give me what I want. You'll see. We'll be a 'appy family. Then

you won't care about the Slayer anymore."

She kissed him and then skipped away, casting a glance upwards.

The moon hung, low and full, in the night sky. Drusilla stepped over to

Xander and stroked his face. He tried to pull away, but couldn't. She

took a few paces away from the pyramid and began her chant again.

"Osiris, god of the lower world, judge of the dead, please 'ear

my cries. I call on you and your sister-wife, Isis, goddess of

fertility.

Please grant my request. Receive my offering of this virgin. May 'is

blood spill onto the ground and appease you. Osiris, I ask that you

judge me worthy. I am one of your children. A child of the lower world.

One of the living dead. In darkness may you reign. May my offering of

the virgin make me worthy. Isis, mother of us all, I ask that you bless

me. I beg for you to give me your gift, the gift that 'as been taken

from my kind. I invoke you to give me a child. From the blood of the

virgin may I be made fertile," she said, slashing Xander's bare chest.

"Not so fast, PsychoGirl," spoke a voice from behind her.

Drusilla whipped her head around and saw Buffy. She charged the

petite

blonde and was almost met with the pointy end of a stake.

"No!" Spike screamed, causing Buffy to turn in his direction.

Drusilla took advantage of the opportunity to run away, leaving

Spike

tied to the pyramid.

Buffy headed over to him, saying, "So, you guys thought you

could have

a

little feast on one of my friends and I wouldn't care, huh? Well, you're

wrong."

She pulled the stake back and stopped when she heard Xander.

"Mmmmmmf mmfmmmff" he screamed around the gag.

Buffy stepped over in front of him and giggled, "That's a new

look for you, Xan."

She removed the gag and he sputtered, "Buffy, thank goodness you

showed up! Untie me, will ya? It's drafty out here."

She untied him and he quickly covered himself. Buffy tossed him

her coat and then stepped back over to Spike.

"Buffy," Xander said, grabbing hold of her arm, "I know I'm

going to regret saying this, but don't stake him."

"What?" she asked incredulously.

"He came here to stop Drusilla. That's why he's tied up. He

saved my life. If he hadn't kept her busy for a few minutes, I would

have been dead before you got here. Now, I'm going to go get dressed

and get stitched up," Xander said, walking away.

Buffy looked at Spike, her face a mask of confusion.

"So, what are you going to do, Slayer?" he asked, trying to hide

the fear in his voice.

She dropped the stake and crossed over to him, hesitating to

untie him. Buffy couldn't believe that he had stood up to Drusilla,

let alone helped Xander.

"Why did you do it?" she asked.

"I don't know," came his response.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Spike. Why did you save him?"

"I don't know. I just didn't want Dru to--"

"To what?"

"To kill him, ok? I didn't want him to die. Happy?" he said,

his voice distant even though he stood inches away from her.

"Why?"

"Because I knew you'd be angry," was his only answer.

Buffy looked at him for a minute, but he wouldn't meet her gaze.

She lifted his head up with her hand and forced him to look into her

eyes.

She heard him gasp for an unneeded breath before she leaned in to kiss

him on the cheek. She untied him and he put an arm around her waist.

"What did you do that for, Slayer?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"I can 'ear your pulse racing, Pet. You want to do it again,

don't you?" he asked, pushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Makin' my life more complicated," he answered, lifting her

head.

He kissed her with a gentle force. He wasn't trying to hurt her,

but he wouldn't allow her to pull away, either.

She finally jerked away, saying, "What did you do that for?"

"Buffy," he said, calling her by her name for the first time,

"forget about Angelus. Forget about Dru. Forget about you bein' the

Slayer and me bein' the vampire. Forget about everything just for one

bloody moment. Just be you."

He kissed her again and felt her body soften in his arms. He

could feel her heart beating against him and the smell of her shampoo

filled his nostrils. He had never wanted a mortal like he wanted her.

He wanted that one moment to last forever.

"Buffy?" Angel's voice called through the graveyard. "Buffy,

where are you?"

She and Spike broke off their kiss.

"Go! Get out of here before he sees you," Buffy said, pushing

him away.

He kissed her again before turning and running away.

"Buffy, are you all right?" Angel said, arriving just as Spike

retreated to the darkness.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, pulling herself together.

"Xander said that Spike was here. Did you stake him?"

"No," she said, thinking of the kiss. "I let him go. He saved

Xander's life."

Spike watched Angel put his coat around Buffy and lead her away.

He forced himself to stay hidden. Tonight was not the night to challenge

his sire. He would have Buffy, but he could wait. He swallowed his

jealousy and walked away.

He had to find a place to stay out of the sun. Dru wouldn't be

pleased that her ceremony had been interrupted. It was best that she

thought the Slayer had killed him. He stepped into his car and drove

away, Buffy's scent still filling his senses.

"Great. One of Dru's crazy schemes backfires again. Now I've

fallen for the bloody Slayer. Well, at least it's not like the time

that ritual backfired and I spent a month trapped in Texas," he said,

shuddering. "At least Buffy doesn't consider cowtipping an acceptable

date activity."

As he drove away, he didn't see Drusilla standing in the

shadows.

"Miss Edith tells me Spike thinks 'e loves the Slayer. Mummy will 'ave to teach 'im a lesson."

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