FIC: Dark Places in the House of Scooby (B/X, W/X, B/W, B/X/W)

["cdreramius" <o163210@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Dark Places in the House of Scooby
Authors: Mike and Tony McD
Rating: mild R
Category: season 7 AU/ early season 2 (kinda)
Pairings: B/X, W/X, B/W, B/X/W
Summary: Follows `The Citadel of the House of Scooby'. Whoever fights 
with monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become 
a monster. And when you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks 
into you.
Distribution: Anywhere, just let us know.
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer nor do I own any 
other characters. This is a work of fiction written for fun and 
enjoyment. 
Authors' notes: This is a collaborative effort between Tony and me 
due to Tony's illness. Feedback is appreciated.
Mike's notes: This takes place a month or two after `Citadel' and the 
morning after `Hot Nights in the House of Scooby: Slayer/Hacker'. You 
don't need to have read `Slayer/Hacker' before this, but you may need 
the warm fuzzy feelings, `cause there aren't many here. If you want a 
copy of Slayer/Hacker then email me at o163210@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx and 
I'll send you one (remember kiddies that it's NC-17 Buffy and Willow 
having fluffy poon-tang. You don't like it then don't ask for it.)



Buffy awoke just after dawn. Slowly she took in her surrounds. The 
first thing she noticed was she wasn't in her own room. The second 
was that she was naked. The third was the fact she wasn't alone in 
her nudity.

Willow lay on her back; her hair spilling out over the sheets, her 
mouth open and a gentle snore emanating from her cute mouth. Buffy 
remembered last night. She remembered how she saw the strength and 
fiery passion that lay beneath the beautiful and gentle exterior.

Buffy watched contentedly the rise and fall of Willow's chest as she 
slept and the gentle bump-bump of her heart beat. She felt the warmth 
of Willow's body and drank in the unique scent that was Willow. In a 
world filled with cold hard death, here, in its most pure form, lay 
warm soft life.

A strand of hair was caught in the corner of Willow's mouth and Buffy 
gently brushed the hair out of her mouth causing Willow to wake with 
a start.

"Huh? Wha?"

"Morning sleepy head."

"Buffy." Willow said as she stretched with cat like grace. "Morning."

"It's a very good morning." Buffy said as she watched the sheets 
slide down Willow's body as she stretched revealing more of her 
feminine curves. Willow covered herself up and smiled at the Slayer.

"Behave you. It's too early for me to deal with a horn dog Slayer."

"Me? Horn dog? Pot, this is kettle, radio check, over!" Buffy said 
with mock indignation.

"Yes, you, horn dog. You're lucky my parents aren't here. They would 
have come busting in last night thinking you were being ax murdered."

"You're giving me a lecture on being a little noisy during sex Willow 
Rosenburg A.K.A Fiona De Moaner."

"Hey! You'd be a moaner too if you had someone doing seriously sexy 
things to you with their tongue."

"I was and I did." The two girls laughed and snuggled up together for 
a few minutes.

"So, no morning after weirdness?" Buffy asked.

"No, all happy and comfy." Willow said as she ran her finger in lazy 
circles around Buffy's belly button. Buffy kissed the top of Willow's 
head and traced the outline of her ear.

"It's funny, isn't it?"

"What's that Buff?"

"Us, this, everything. None of it would have happened if it weren't 
for Xander coming back and changing it all. Without him we would have 
kept going down the road to our destruction."

"Yeah, I guess he did bring us back from the brink."

"That's the second time he's brought me back from the dead."

"What are ya getting at here Buffy? You wanna get down on your knees 
in front of the Lord and thank him for Xander?"

"No, I wanna get down on my knees in front of Xander and thank him 
myself."

"BUFFY!! Damn! I was right! You ARE a complete horn dog!" Willow 
laughed and poked the Slayer in the ribs.

"Hey!" replied Buffy and whacked Willow with a pillow. Willow put her 
resolve face on.

"OK birthday girl, you asked for it!" and launched into vigorously 
tickling Buffy. A tickle fight ensued, filling the room with the 
happy sounds of playful laughter.



It was them, but it wasn't. The sadness and loss he had felt before 
was overwhelmed by sheer terror. They had turned their back on him 
before, but now they gave him their undivided attention. He was their 
play thing; their puppy to kick and torment.

He remembered how in the past their touch brought comfort and solace. 
But now it only brought pain and suffering. His left arm dangled 
uselessly by his side, broken bone visible through his skin in 
several places. His lungs struggled to function as pain from his 
shattered ribs sent convulsions through his body that was a mass of 
cuts and bruises.

She backed off; her feral smile framed incongruently by her beautiful 
blonde hair. His field of vision was filled with a face so familiar 
from nearly 18 years of looking at it that he close his eyes could 
describe its every detail. But it was a mask that was worn by a 
stranger. An imperfect mask with its pale, veiny skin and black hair 
to match her black eyes.

All thoughts were washed away by the sound and the smell of his own 
flesh burning.
*****

Xander awoke with a gasp, his heart racing and his body coated in a 
sheen of sweat. It took him a moment to come down from his nightmare. 
He'd being having them more regularly of late. He absently rubbed his 
left arm and remembered the pain.

The most frightening thing was the fact that the nightmares were in 
fact memories.

The doorbell rang and Xander pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of sweat 
pants and went to the door.

"Johnathan? What are you doing here?"

"I thought we were going out to see that Star Wars marathon. If 
you've changed your mind then?"

"No, no. Sorry, I'm still half asleep. Come on in." Xander waved him 
in.

As part of their efforts to change what happened the gang had made an 
effort to befriend Johnathan, reasoning that if he had some friends 
then the Nerds of Doom would be down one. Much to their surprise, 
once they got to know him, he was a pretty nice guy. Xander and 
Willow especially bonded with him, recognizing that he was very 
similar to them and they shared a lot of interests in common.

Xander saw that, but for the grace of meeting each other, he and 
Willow would have turned out exactly like Johnathan, except in 
Xander's case, without the brains. His contact with the Scoobies had 
given Johnathan a measure of confidence and self respect that he 
lacked before.

He wasn't an active member of the Scooby Gang by any means. One 
patrol had been enough for him to realize he wasn't cut out in the 
combat department. But he did help on occasions to research with 
Giles, Willow, and Ms Calendar and between the four of them they had 
formed a pretty powerful research team.

"Give us 15 minutes to have a shower and get ready, OK?"

"Sure." Johnathan said sitting himself down and turning the TV on.

"Don't turn it up too loud or you'll wake my parents." Xander warned. 
As usual they were still in bed sleeping off whatever they had drank 
the night before. They wouldn't take too kindly to being woken this 
morning.

When Xander returned 15 minutes later he found Johnathan watching the 
local news channel. The screen showed Mayor Wilkins handcuffed and 
being shoved into a car by men in windbreakers with FBI emblazoned on 
the back.

"What's happening?" Xander asked. He already had a good idea of what 
was going on.

"The FBI has arrested the Mayor for tax evasion, corruption, and his 
role in the kidnapping and murder of several of his political 
opponents." Johnathan saw the smile on Xander's face.

"You had something to do with that, didn't you?"

"I can't claim all the credit. Willow did some hacking and dug up 
enough evidence for us to get the feds interested. We anonymously 
dangled the tax evasion thing in front of the IRS and the kidnapping 
in front of the FBI and they took the bait. The Mayor may be a big 
shot here in Sunnydale but he's a rat next to the 800-pound gorilla 
that is the Uncle Sam."

"So what did he do? In your timeline that is?"

"Turned into a giant snake during graduation and ate Snyder."

Johnathan looked at Xander incredibly.

"You want him locked away to prevent THAT?"



"Hi Mrs. Summers, is Buffy home yet?"

"No, she and Willow are still out shopping."

"Good. Could you hold the door open while I bring in Buffy's birthday 
gift?" Xander asked.

"Sure." Joyce said and watched as Xander brought in a large object 
covered in a blanket.
*********

The party was going well. It was a low-key event with only Buffy, her 
mom, Willow, Xander, Giles, Jenny, and Johnothan there. Buffy had a 
huge smile on her face as she received her presents. Johnothan gave 
her a relaxation CD with sounds of the rainforest. Her mom gave her a 
beautiful pendant; Giles and Jenny gave her an antique jewelry box; 
Willow gave her basket full of scented soaps and oils.

"So, you think Buffy stinks, do ya Wills?" Xander smirked. Willow 
whacked him on the arm and gave him a dirty look. Xander laughed and 
rubbed his arm where she had hit him.

"What did you buy her?" Willow wanted to know.

"I didn't buy it. I made it." Xander told her and uncovered his 
present.

It was a beautiful wooden weapons chest. It was covered in intricate 
carvings of scenes of Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles in various 
situations. Battle scenes such as the Sisterhood of Jhe with Xander 
facing down Jack O'Toole in the basement while his friends battle the 
Hellmouth above; Graduation with the student army while Buffy faces 
the huge form of the Mayor/demon; combo Buffy fighting ADAM; and the 
Scoobies fighting Glory were carved on the sides.

But most prominent as what was carved on the lid. In each corner was 
the carved face of Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Giles. In the center 
was carved a scene of the four of them sitting around the library 
table researching. The warm smiles and obvious closeness between the 
four spoke volumes of the bond they shared.

It wasn't just a work of art; it was a labor of love.

Buffy looked at Xander with huge tears in her eyes. Xander and Willow 
gave Buffy a group hug as she shed tears of happiness. The two female 
Scoobies felt Xander's whole body stiffen and Buffy heard his heart 
race. They looked up at him with concern.

"What's wrong?"

Xander had a look of fear on his face as he stared out into space.

"Xander! What's the matter?" Buffy asked insistently.

Xander's head snapped down and he looked first at Buffy then Willow 
with terror in his eyes.

"I? I? gotta go." He said and hurried out the front door.

"Xander!" Willow and Buffy started after him but Giles stopped them.

"Damn it Giles! Something's wrong and I wanna know what it is!"

"Buffy, I think I know what's wrong. But I need to talk to Xander 
first, OK? You need to give me some time. If you want to help him, 
then let me do it."

An unhappy Buffy and Willow reluctantly agreed.



"So the nightmares are more frequent?" Giles asked Xander as the two 
men sat on Giles' sofa. Xander had told Giles of the nightmares and 
had shown him the scars on his body from his final battle with Buffy 
and Willow just before they became the First Evil.

"Yeah. But they're not nightmares, more like vivid memories. One 
moment I'm hugging Buff and Wills, next thing it's like I'm back 
there being tortured by their evil versions. I don't know what's 
happening to me."

Giles sat back and contemplated the situation for a few moments.

"I believe what you had is called a flashback. This, plus the 
nightmares, and everything else you've told me seem to point to a 
case of post traumatic stress disorder."

"The what now?"

"Post traumatic stress disorder. It's a reaction to traumatic events 
such as your torture or prolonged exposure to stressful events."

"Like Slaying for 8 years straight?"

"Well, yes. But I've never heard of a Slayer ever suffering from 
PTSD."

"Maybe that's because the average Slayer has a life span of a fruit 
fly."

"I wouldn't go so far as to say?"

"Giles, reality check here. In my timeline Kendra lasted, what, six 
or eight months? How often does a Slayer make it to 18? Or 21?"

"Um, well, not very often."

"That's right. Between the vamps and the Watchers Council your 
average Slayer doesn't stand a chance. But Buffy isn't your average 
Slayer, is she? She doesn't fight alone; she isn't cut off from the 
world. She's got you, and me, and Willow, and her mom, and Angel, and 
Kendra, and everything else. Buffy made it to 23, but even she fell 
too. The stress of it all got her. She cut herself off from us, the 
world, everything. She succumbed to the darkness."

"Xander, that's all very well and good, but we're talking about you, 
not Buffy."

"I know we are, but think about it. Who among our original little 
groups was the least likely to get stressed?"

Giles conceded the point. The longer they fought the more likely they 
would suffer from PTSD and sitting right in front of him was living 
proof that it would take a heavy toll on them all. If they wished to 
survive for anything approaching a reasonable period of time then 
management of PTSD was important. But right now he needed to help 
Xander.

"I know someone who can help you with this."

"I don't want anything to do with anyone from the Council."

"No, they're not a part of the Watchers Council, they work at the 
university here. They're aware of the, er, reality, of Sunnydale. 
I'll give her a call and she can get in touch with you."

Xander nodded his assent to the proposal. He knew deep down that he 
needed help. He needed to remove this block between the girls and 
himself if he wanted a healthy relationship with them. But there were 
a couple of other things he needed done as well.

"Alright. I'll do it. But I also want her to come up with ways to 
help to stop this from happening in you guys as well."

"I'm sure she can. But you will need to talk to Buffy and Willow 
about what happened today."

"I really screwed up Buffy's birthday, didn't I?"

"Xander, it isn't your fault. But you do need to talk to them. They 
love you and they're concerned about you, which is only natural. You 
need to tell them everything."

Xander exhaled loudly. Part of him didn't want to do it. The 
fragments of his shattered male pride coupled with his overwhelming 
desire not to hurt Buffy and Willow made him somewhat unwilling to 
talk to them about it. But most of him knew Giles was right.

"I will, but I need you to talk to them first. Tell them about this 
disorder thing; you can explain it way better than me."

"I'll talk to them tonight."

Xander looked at the man more his father that his biological one with 
deep gratitude in his eyes.

"Thanks."

There were a few moments of silence as Giles sipped at his tea.

"I also need another favor Giles."

"What favor would that be?"

"I need you to help me access my memories."

"What? Why?"

"Look, Spike is still out there and there's still the potential 
matter of him reassembling the Judge. I need to access my soldier 
memories so we can get the rocket launcher to blast that big blue 
bastard to bits. Remember, no weapon forged? Mr. Anti Tank Missile is 
made, not forged. You can do that hypnosis thing and help me 
remember. And while we're at it you can dig around and help me 
remember other stuff as well. People will die if I can't remember 
important stuff. People have already died." Xander said 
impassionedly, thinking of Oz. Giles knew Xander was referring to Oz 
being killed.

"You are aware that you're changing things, making them different. 
The more time passes the fewer things will happen exactly as you 
remember them. There will come the time that you will have no more 
knowledge of the future than the rest of us."

"I know that OK? I watch Star Trek, I know about time travel stuff. 
But right now my memories are still on the money and we need to 
access them or we're screwed."

With some reluctance Giles agreed to Xander's request.

"Give me a few days to get things organized.



They had gone around to Xander's place later that night after Giles 
had told them what had happened with Xander. The three of them had 
spoken until the wee small hours about Xander and his experiences and 
feelings.

As the dawn's early light filtered through the curtains of Xander's 
bedroom, Buffy found herself deep in thought. The three of them lay 
snuggled together in a chaste embrace on Xander's bed. Willow was 
snuggled on one side of Xander and Buffy on the other. She marveled 
at their oneness, marveled at the fact that even as they slept they 
breathed together.

The talk had exposed a side of Xander that they had never guessed 
existed. A deeply wounded man, someone who had undergone the worst 
hells at the very hands of the two people he loved most. He had a 
huge heart, but it was a heart covered in scars.

However, no matter how badly he had been hurt, no matter what their 
counterparts did to him, he loved both of them unconditionally.

Buffy wondered how could he do it. How could he spend day after day 
with the very same people who brutally tortured and maimed him for 
fun, let alone love them? She felt revolted at the very idea that she 
and Willow were capable of anything like what Xander described. It 
was like he was describing the actions of another person, someone 
with their bodies and memories and certain personality traits but 
nothing else.

Maybe that was it. She remembered when the hyena had possessed Xander 
and how much it had hurt Willow. But here Willow was, snuggled up to 
him both deeply asleep and deeply in love with him. She knows that it 
wasn't Xander, not the real Xander at any rate. Xander must have done 
the same thing.

The last thing that went through Buffy's mind before sleep claimed 
her was to wonder when Angel would be back from destroying the Box of 
Gavrock.



"Damn it! Buy America my ass!" Cordelia spat as she entered the 
library. She had just finished cheerleading practice and was still in 
her uniform. "Why couldn't Daddy buy me a snappy European sports car 
instead of the broken down hunk of Detroit rust currently sitting in 
the car park?"

"Cordy, ever thought that the reason it broke down is because you 
never check the oil or the water or anything else before you drive?" 
an amused Xander asked the cheerleader.

"What do ya think I am? Some two bit grease monkey?"

Xander opened his mouth but an elbow to the ribs from Willow who was 
sitting beside him cut off his smart-ass reply.

"Giles! I need to call the AAA. Can I use the phone on the counter?" 
Cordy yelled even as she picked up the phone and started dialing. 
Giles merely rolled his eyes and went back into his office. Cordelia 
lent against the counter as she waited on hold for an AAA operator to 
take the call.

As she did so it offered a rather nice view of her long legs and 
great ass. Both Xander and Willow tilted their heads to the side to 
get a better view. Their moment of appreciation was interrupted by 
the sound of Buffy clearing her throat. The two jumped a little in 
surprise and wheeled about to see Buffy with two piles of books.

"If you're both finished drooling there's some books here that need 
stacking away." She told them and shoved the piles of books into 
their arms. They scurried up into the stacks like a couple of scalded 
cats. When the two had disappeared into the stacks, Buffy tilted her 
head to the side for a few moments to appreciate the view before 
sighing and heading for the stacks herself.



It was a beautiful night out he thought to himself as he walked down 
the street. Lights shone from houses filled with people completely 
unawares to the danger that lurked in their quiet little town. Taking 
a long drag on his cigarette he stopped in front of one such house. 
Flicking the cigarette into the garden, he walked up to the door and 
knocked.



Later that night, the three Scoobies returned from patrol in high 
spirits. It had been a busy night with almost a dozen vamps dusted. 
In one instance they faced six vamps at once, but the appearance of 
Angel recently returned from destroying the Box of Gavrock saw the 
battle end quickly.

Giles and Jenny were waiting for them with a large circle dotted with 
candles around its circumference.

"Er, did we just interrupt some romantic candle lit moment, `cause if 
we did?"

"For once would it be too much to ask for a little maturity on your 
behalf?" An irritated Watcher asked his Slayer. Buffy fell silent at 
the rebuke.

"This has nothing to do with romance."

"Pity." Jenny Calendar mumbled to herself.

"This is to help Xander access his memories, specifically those to 
help us defeat the Judge. Xander, could you please sit in the center 
of the circle so we can get started?"

Giles started organizing Xander and completing the set up while Buffy 
and Willow sat beside Jenny.

"So Giles is putting the mystical whammy on Xander to help grab some 
memories? Is that wise?" Buffy asked the techno-pagan.

"Xander insisted. He's old enough to make his own decisions and 
besides, Rupert knows what he's doing."

"Is that wolvesbane?" Willow asked, fascinated at the ritual 
unfolding before her.

"No, mandrake. It's used in spells to do with the mind. Wolvesbane is 
used more in spells that involve transformations and demon rituals."

In the center of the room Xander stared into a large yellow crystal 
he held as Giles built up to the climax of the ritual.

"Gavista unmen desut aru devicta!"

The normally brown eyes of Xander briefly glowed green-orange then 
returned to normal. He looked around at his friends then out towards 
the library doors. From deep within him came a sound that chilled the 
blood of all present.

The feral sound of the Hyena.

With a roar, he leapt up and raced out of the library with 
breathtaking speed. Buffy tried to catch him but he was too fast and 
had disappeared into the night.

When Buffy had returned to the library she had to comfort a very 
scared Willow. The red head had suffered badly the first time the 
hyena took control of Xander; the prospect of another had her shaken.

"What the hell just happened Giles? You start digging around in 
Xander's mind and all of a sudden our boyfriend starts feeling the 
call of the wild. I thought we got rid of the hyena spirit."

"I-I... don't know. Maybe it's possible th-that the hyena spirit left 
an-an imprint on-on his subconscious that we tapped into with the 
spell." The Watcher speculated 

"It doesn't matter what the hell happened we need to find a way to 
reverse it and catch Xander. I think I know how to reverse it, but we 
need to catch Xander before something happens." Jenny Calendar 
interjected.

"How are we going to that? He took off out of here like the 
roadrunner and from memory hyena Xander is pretty damn strong. If we 
find him we'll need as much muscle as we can get. I'll get Angel."

"Buffy, wait! Xander's a hyena, right? All we need to do to find him 
is think like a hyena." Everyone nodded in agreement to Willow's 
idea. She shoved aside her fear and focused on getting the man she 
loved back.

"Hyena's are pack animals. But Kyle and the others that were in his 
original pack left Sunnydale after their possession. So he hasn't got 
a pack to go to."

"Yes he does." Jenny interrupted Willow. They looked at her in 
confusion.

"You and Buffy are his pack."

"Then why isn't he here? Why did he take off like that?" Buffy asked. 
Realization dawned on Giles' face.

"He's after the threat to the pack."

"What threat?" Buffy asked then the answer hit her too.

"Spike. Spike's a threat to his pack and he's gone after him. Oh 
shit! We gotta catch him before he gets hurt!" Buffy said with rising 
panic. Giles saw this and took charge.

"Willow, go get Angel. Jenny, work on a way to return Xander to 
normal. I'll find a locator spell we can use on Xander."

"What about me?" Buffy asked her Watcher.

"I need you here. As soon as we locate Xander I'll need you to handle 
him."



"Turn left here." Buffy instructed Giles. She had a map of Sunnydale 
and the bright point of light showed Xander's location. As they 
rounded the corner Buffy realized that they were headed for Xander's 
house.

"Stop!" she yelled and Giles slammed on the breaks in front of 
Xander's home. Buffy jumped out of the car and raced towards the open 
front door. She stopped short just inside the doorway.

Giles caught up with his Slayer and saw what had stopped her short.

In the lounge room lay the bodies of Anthony and Jessica Harris. Both 
of them bore the distinctive bite mark that was so familiar to both 
Slayer and Watcher. Crouched over them was Xander who forlornly 
sniffed at the bodies. The expression on Xander's face broke their 
hearts.

Xander looked down at the bodies of his parents and his expression 
changed to a mask of insane fury. Sniffing at the air Xander leapt up 
and raced out the front door knocking Buffy and Giles to the floor 
doing so.

As Giles struggled to his feet Buffy was already up and out the door 
after Xander.

The Englishman took one last look at the two bodies before going back 
to his car and returning to the library.

Buffy raced down the street and around the corner in pursuit of 
Xander. Suddenly a baseball bat appeared in her field of vision and 
her world went black.



"Wakey, wakey." Spike sing songed as she roughly shook the 
unconscious Slayer who saw tied up like a starfish between two metal 
beams.

Buffy came to and looked at her surroundings.

"You brought me to the same place where I dusted your ho, how 
poetic." Buffy said defiantly. Spike punched her in the stomach, 
knocking the wind out of her.

"Poetic? I'm just getting started." Spike told her as he circled her. 
Buffy strained at her restrains.

"No point trying to get loose Slayer. I own you."

"Sorry, I already belong to a couple of others."

"Ah, yes. The red head and the boy. You know that girl's parents 
should be reported. They're never home when friends call round. But 
your boy's were. Drunken pathetic pair they were, I was in a mind to 
let `em live and let him suffer. But I got hungry."

"Fuck you Spike!"

"I'm shocked, do you kiss your mother with that potty mouth? Speaking 
of which, I was on my way to visit your own sweet mother when we ran 
into each other."

"You touch her and I'll?"

"You'll what Slayer? Stake me? Cut my head off? You ain't in a 
position to do sod all bitch." Spike sat down on a crate in front of 
her.

"I've killed two Slayers. Had me a world of fun doing it. They say 
Slayer blood is a powerful aphrodisiac and they're right." He got up 
and walked over to her.

"I wonder if fucking a Slayer is just as good." He leered as he 
roughly fondled Buffy's breasts. Buffy spat in the blondes face. 
Spike laughed.

"Ooohhh, kitty likes to play, hmm? You got some spunk in you little 
girl. I'll tell you how this is gonna happen. First I'm gonna have me 
some fun with you. Then I'm bring mommy dearest around and finding 
out if shagging is passed down from mother to daughter."

"I'll fucking kill you, Spike."

"You fucking watch me as I stick it in her. Then I'm gonna make you 
mine. Forever. And when you wake up, I'm gonna watch you drain her 
dry." Spike laughed again as the color drained from her face in 
horror.

>From somewhere behind him there was the sound of movement.

"Company already? You know it's rude to interrupt people." Spike 
called out to the darkness. Out of the shadows a figure appeared.

Xander.

"GET OUT OF HERE XANDER!!!" Buffy screamed.

"Please stay, I like putting on a show for unfortunate people such as 
yourself. You know, the poor, the sick, orphans." Xander started 
circling the blonde vamp.

"Little boy wants to dance, does he? I was just about to make a woman 
out of your girlfriend here but?" An animalistic roar of fury cut off 
Spike as Xander hurled himself at the vampire.

The two went crashing to the ground and Xander tore into Spike's 
chest and face with unrestrained power and vengeance. Spike was 
stunned at the strength and violence of the attack from the boy. 
Kicking out desperately, Spike managed to get Xander off him for a 
moment.

"What the bloody hell?" Spike asked aloud but got no further as 
Xander once again resumed his attack. Fists rained blow after blow, 
cracking and breaking bones. Fingers and teeth tore great chunks of 
flesh from the vamp. The hyena in Xander knew nether of pain or 
mercy. It only knew kill.

"BUFFY!" Willow yelled as she, Giles and Angel raced in to free her. 
Angel pulled Xander off the broken and bleeding vamp but he broke 
free and resumed his attack on the blonde. It took the combined 
strength of Buffy, Giles, and Angel to finally pull the possessed 
Xander off Spike who dragged himself quickly into the night and 
disappeared.

Xander struggled in vain to break free and chase him down. Willow 
knelt in front of her possessed boyfriend and held up a white crystal.

"Shavo reenus acti romor jhe! Shavo reenus acti romor jhe!" Willow 
chanted and Xander's eyes flashed green-orange then returned to 
normal. The crystal Willow held now pulsed the same green-orange as 
she raised it up and threw it down on the cement smashing the crystal 
into a thousand pieces.

An exhausted and bewildered Xander looked about in confusion for a 
while. Then is big chocolate eyes filled with tears.

Buffy and Willow held him close as he broke down and began crying.



Three months later.

It was an emaciated Spike who lay amidst the filth of the sewer. 
Unable to hunt because of his massive injuries, he fed on the 
occasional rat that managed to crawl its way to within grabbing 
distance. It wasn't enough to help him heal and it was only a matter 
of time before someone or something finished him off.

"Poor little Spike. You're not looking the best are you?" A familiar 
voice teased.

"Get it over with Slayer, and be on your way." Spike rasped.

"Awww, you've got it all wrong lover boy." Buffy told him as she 
caressed his sunken cheeks. "We're not here to hurt you."

A veiny skinned, black haired Willow squatted down in front of him.

"We're here to help you."