Aftermath and College
by Bwriter
Chapter eighteen
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Chapter eighteen - sorry its been so long since i last updated, but RL has been a pain, whoever said college was fun?
"I hope you didn't mind me bringing Tara tonight."
They had just dropped Tara off at her dorm room and Buffy was walking Willow back to her own.
"No, she's a friend right? Why shouldn't she hang out." Buffy still couldn't pin point why she felt so... put out by Tara, the blonde Wicca seemed pleasant enough.
Willow smiled and snuggled into Buffy's side.
"Good. I'm glad you like her, and the rest of the Scoobies seemed to as well. It can't hurt, having one more magically inclined person helping us out."
Buffy gave her a funny look, which Willow read correctly.
"I mean beside you. Someone I can do spells with and stuff."
Buffy nodded her head to show she was listening and turned them onto the path that would lead them to Willow's dorm.
"Angel, stop following us and come out for Gods sake."
Willow rolled her eyes when Angel appeared, a sheepish look on his face.
"Hey guys."
He looked uneasy, and Buffy noticed.
"Haven't seen you around for a while. I was starting to worry. Where have you been?"
Angel looked over his shoulder before moving closer to Buffy.
"Not here."
Buffy shook her head at him.
"There's no demons around apart from you."
Angel gave her a little half smirk and shrugged his shoulders.
"Its not demons I'm worried about."
Buffy frowned and shared a look with Willow.
"We can go to my place. It's not far."
Buffy tightened her grip on Willow, her senses extending to look for any threat to them.
Angel fell into step beside Willow, ensuring the redhead was flanked by both Slayer and Vampire.
It only took a few minutes of tense silence to reach Willow's dorm.
Buffy followed Willow into the room and Willow turned to invite Angel in.
Once everyone was inside, Angel plopped down on a seat.
"What do you know about theses Commandoes running around?"
At Buffy's blank look, Angel had his answer.
"There is a group of Commandoes searching out and capturing demons, Vampires, you name it. I recently came across a Vampire that escaped them, it wasn't pretty."
Buffy took off her coat and made herself comfortable on Willow's bed.
"What do you mean?"
Angel took an unneeded breath, the image of Spike floating through his mind.
"They torture them, do experiments on them. The Vampire I found was starved and unrecognisable. I could only tell who it was because of the bond."
Buffy looked confused and Willow looked worried.
"Bond?"
Angel closed his eyes.
"Family. Childer."
Buffy drew in a breath, the implications hitting home. Angel only had three childer. Dru, Penn and...
"Spike."
Angel had never heard a name spoken with more hatred than Buffy was able to infuse into his Childe's.
Needlessly, he nodded his head yes.
"And I should care about this why?"
Buffy now had a death grip on Willow's bed covers, knowing that if she gripped the redheads hand, it would be crushed.
"What?" Angel was taken aback, and it showed in his voice.
"Why should I care if a bunch of army boys are turning the tables on the demons? Makes a changed from them trying to take over or end the world."
Angel couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stood up and began to pace the confines of the room, his displeasure apparent in his rigid muscles.
"Because, it isn't just evil demons these guys are targeting, they are going after harmless ones as well. Because we have no idea how far they will go. Because you are the Slayer and because they almost got me tonight."
Buffy's whole demeanour changed. No body hurt her friends. Even the ones who were undead and made vampires she despised. Well okay, that was only Angel.
Standing up, she walked over to the window and peered out.
"Tell me about Spike." the words tasted bitter in her mouth, but if Angel needed her help, she would work passed it.
That or dust the bleached blonde.
Angel sighed in relief.
"He was starved, beaten, burned and bloodied. But that wasn't what concerned me most. He told me he heard a few boys talking when he was hiding from them just after his escape. They implanted a chip in his head. It stops him from hurting any living thing, but it doesn't work on demons, he had to escape a vamp who thought he'd be easy pickings."
Buffy smirked, thinking of a fangless Spike. Something he once said about happy meals came back to her and the smirk grew before she turned serious again.
"If they can do this to a Vampire like Spike, what else are they doing? We have no idea what their goals are and until we do, they are a threat."
Buffy looked from Angel to Willow.
"Are they human?"
Angel nodded his head yes.
"Call Giles and tell him we're on our way over. Tell him to get the rest over there now."
Angel pulled out his cell phone to do as she asked while Buffy turned back to face the window, looking out into the darkness.
Willow stood behind the Slayer.
"Buffy, what is it?"
"Will, if these people are human, what are we supposed to do? It's not like I can kill them."
Willow had answer that one so she settled in wrapping her arms around Buffy from behind and hugging her tightly.
Angel closed his phone and turned to the couple.
"Will, you got any ice?"
Willow left Buffy and went to her small fridge, opening the tiny freezer compartment and pulling out an ice pack.
"Here."
Angel took it from her and eased his coat off and reached under her shirt to hold the ice over his left shoulder.
"What happened?"
Looking over to Buffy, he gave a shrug.
"Got shot with a stun gun."
Buffy nodded her head and her thoughts went back to her present dilemma.
"Giles is going to get everyone over. He said to give them half an hour and they should be there."
Buffy sighed and sat down on Willow's bed, falling back on to it and breathing deeply through her nose.
Angel looked over to Willow, wondering what to do about the obviously confused Slayer.
"Buff, I'm not saying that we go in guns blazing. We just need to shut them down. You don't need to worry about me or Spike loosing control."
Buffy cracked open one eye and gave Angel a small smile before closing it again. She wasn't just worried about the Vampire's loosing control.
Then, both eyes shot open and she sat up.
"Wait, Spike?"
Angel looked uncomfortable.
"He's back at mine. I'm going to swing by there before we hit Giles and pick him up."
Buffy groaned at having to deal with the bleached vamp and fell back on the bed.
Willow smirked at Buffy plopped down beside her girlfriend.
"He's not that bad."
Buffy growled softly, causing Angel to raise his eyebrow.
"He's a pain in my ass is what he is."
Willow picked up her pillow and batted Buffy with it.
"Jealous much?"
Buffy shot up off the bed and walked over to the door.
"We better go if we're going to pick him up before we head over to Giles. Are Jonny and Tom meeting us there?"
Angel nodded his head yes and he and a laughing Willow followed the grumbling Slayer out of the dorm room.
Willow's jaw dropped when she saw the state of the once pristine Vampire.
His head had been shaved, he was covered in bruises and cuts, and he look starved.
He looked worse than she imagined from Angel's brief description.
Buffy entered Angel's apartment on Willow's heels, stopping when she caught sight of Spike huddled in the corner.
"Angel?"
Spike's head snapped up when he heard the Slayer's voice.
"Spike?"
He whipped around to face Willow, snarling low in his throat.
Buffy pulled Willow behind her, giving Spike a sharp look.
When he realised what he had done, Spike lowered his head, as a way of apologising. He hadn't meant to snap, he was jumpy ever since escaping.
"Sorry Red." he figured it wouldn't be wise to piss off the Slayer if she was going to help with his little problem.
Buffy growled under her breath at his use of her nickname for Willow, but no-one picked up on it.
"Spike, can you even walk?"
In answer to Willow's question, Spike stood, though he looked like he was in pain, and made his way out of the apartment.
"'Course I can. A few cuts never stopped me before."
Buffy rolled her eyes and shadowed Willow as they left Angel's and headed over to Giles.
Something about this didn't sit right with the Slayer.
tbc