Chapter Summary: Picks up the day after the Bronze scene in the episode "Lie to Me" and continues through the end of it plus extra. Spike follows Buffy and Ford out into the night. Angel is suspicious of Buffy over her questions about the night before. He's also suspicious of Ford's presence in Buffy's life. Ford continues with his plans to sell out Buffy for immortality, but Spike isn't about to let anyone betray Buffy like that.

Author's Note: Some dialogue was taken from the episode "Lie to Me", and some of the dialogue in scenes from the episode has been rewritten to fit the purpose of this story.

After a nervous encounter with Willow in the morning, and an equally amusing encounter with Giles in the afternoon, Buffy and Ford left the school to catch some dinner and later tour Sunnydale. The day had flown by, and now it was well past sunset.

"And on your right, once again, the beautiful campus." Buffy and Ford strolled along in front of the high school. It was the origination point for her tour of Sunnydale, and it was where they ended up stopping the tour as well. "I think you've now seen everything there is to see in Sunnydale."

"Okay, dull is good." Ford grinned. "Or maybe not so dull." He watched two figures race around the outside of the high school and up the stairs to the next level. "Is that more vampires?"

"It must be the weather." Buffy sighed. 'I can't get a single relaxing evening without some demon interfering.' She pulled her stake and a cross out of her jacket. She handed the cross to Ford. Ford surprised Buffy with the carefully carved stake he pulled from his pants pocket. "Stay close to me."

Ford nodded. He followed closely behind Buffy up the stairs. She stopped at the wire rack railing at the end of the walkway. "Maybe there were just passing through."

"I don't think so." Before Buffy was able to comment further, a blonde female vampire attacked her from behind. Buffy bashed her head back into the vampire's face, and she flipped the vampire over to the ground. The male vampire ran at Buffy, grabbed her arms, and flipped them both over the wire railing to the ground.

Ford pounced on the female vampire. He pushed the cross close to her face and raised his stake. "You've got one chance to live. Tell me what I wanna know, and I let you go." The vampiress panted and held her hands up in surrender.

Buffy finished dusting the male vampire. She ran back around and up the stairs to make sure Ford was all right. "Where's the other one?"

"I killed her." Ford faked a cough. "I killed her, and she just turned to dust. It was amazing."

Xander, Willow and Angel investigated the only address she was able to locate in connection to Billy Fordham. Angel was the first to realize what the club was all about. The very idea of people worshipping vampires in such a way disgusted his very soul. He shared his opinions about the stupidity of the whole thing with Xander and Willow. Now the three of them knew that Ford was hiding something.

While the mismatched trio visited the club of vampire followers, another meeting took place at the school library. Buffy, Giles and Jenny emerged past the library doors together.

"Sorry to beep you guys in the middle of stuff, but it seemed really weird." Buffy removed her coat.

"You hated it that much?" Jenny questioned. She wished she could get Giles to lighten up a little bit. She wondered if it would kill him to cut loose once in a while.

"No, but vampires on campus could have implications. Very grave." Giles tried to cover up his uncomfortable panic over the date with Jenny.

"No, honestly, I've always been interested in monster trucks." Giles stuff his hands back into his pockets. Being a Watcher meant he needed to fit into a particular mold. If these people had only known him in his younger days, they would be quite surprised to see just how "loose" he was.

"You took him to monster trucks?" Buffy nearly fell off the table in shock. Nothing about Giles screamed take me to monster trucks.

"It was a change," Giles cleared his throat, and Buffy turned her face away before she laughed.

"And miss the nitro-burning funny cars? Couldn't have that," The sarcasm dripped from Giles' lips.

Buffy derailed further arguments about Giles' date, "Okay, can we get can we get back on the vampire tip here? These guys were here with a purpose."

"Yes, and we must ascertain what that purpose is." Giles walked over to a collection of books sprawled over a couple tables in the library.

"Good," Giles sat down, "The less he's involved in all this, the safer he'll be."

"He did bag a vamp his first time out." Giles removed a book from a pile in front of Buffy. "Gotta give him credit for … that." A tintype of a woman caught Buffy's attention on top of the remaining books. She picked it up.

"Something wrong?" Jenny noticed the look in Buffy's eyes. She saw a glint of recognition and anger at the picture.

"Who's this?" She stared into the eyes of the woman she'd seen with Angel the night before.

"She's called Drusilla." Giles removed his glasses. "A sometime paramour of Spike's. She was killed by an angry mob in Prague."

"Well, they don't make angry mobs like they used to, 'cause this girl's alive." Buffy frowned. "I saw her with Angel."

"Isn't he supposed to be a good guy?" Jenny added her unwanted two cents worth to the conversation.

"Yeah, he is." Buffy gripped the picture tighter. The edges of the tintype started to bend up. 'Paramour? That better not mean what I think it means.'

"I think we need to read up on this nice lady." Jenny watched Buffy's body language shift and darken. Something was going on with the Slayer.

Giles snatched the tintype from Buffy's hand before Buffy destroyed it. He stood up and headed for his office. "Well, some of my newer volumes may be more helpful. My own research has …" He was interrupted by the blonde female vampire from earlier in the evening knocking Giles into Buffy on her way out of his office.

Buffy and Giles hit the floor. The vampire hurdled over the railing to the second level and disappeared out the back way of the library. Jenny rushed over to help Buffy and Giles get back on their feet.

"A book!" Giles was appalled that one of his treasured volumes was now in the hands of a vampire. "It took one of my books."

"He said he killed it." Buffy's confusion over the evening's events heightened. Why was that vampire still alive? "That's the vampire Ford said he killed." Was everyone lying to her now?

In the factory Spike confronted Dru about her midnight wanderings a couple nights prior. "I heard an interesting thing just now." He played it off as one of the minions keeping him informed instead of knowing first hand where she was. "Lucius tells me you went out on the hunt the other night."

"My tummy was growly and you were gone." Dru turned to face Spike, the dead bird in the cage, she was paying attention to, forgotten for the moment. "You're always gone these days, Spike."

"Being the Master of the Hellmouth requires my presence to be known." Spike covered up for himself. "So, you meet anyone interesting while you were out? Say, Angel?"

"Angel," Dru purred. "Daddy was all a flutter. He doesn't know that his sunshine has gone all away."

"Yeah." Spike kissed Dru's forehead. Either the girl was completely barmy, or she was getting on his nerves. "What might you guys have talked about then?" He circled around Dru. "Old times? Childhood pranks?"

Dru ignored Spike's attentions once more. She poked a finger at the dead bird in the cage. She was smarter and saner than everyone thought. She knew how to get under Spike's skin and annoy him. She needed the entertainment after being cooped up in the factory all the time. She needed to be healed, but she had a different purpose for being in Sunnydale now.

"It's a little off, you two so friendly like, especially with him being the enemy." Spike wanted to keep Dru and Angel as far away from each other as possible. He tried logical reasoning to get Dru to listen to him.

Dru twirled around to face Spike. She waggled a finger in his face. "No more off than you and the Slayer being all friendly." Her eyes narrowed. "I can see her Spike, all around you. She'll be the death of us. She'll be the end for your princess."

Before Spike was able to answer a male voice interrupted his train of thought. "This is so cool. I would totally live here." Ford walked into the factory as if he had no care or concern for his well-being.

"Do I have anyone on watch here?" Spike wasn't a fan of surprises. He recognized the boy's scent, and he picked up on the traces of Buffy's scent mingled in underneath. "It's called security people. Are you all asleep?" He ground out angrily. 'What is he doing here?' He sauntered closer to Ford. "Or did we finally find a restaurant that delivers?"

"I know who you are," Ford's voice was strong and confident. He stood his ground even as Spike drew closer to him.

"Yeah, I know who I am too. So what?" Spike eyed the boy up and down. 'Why would a friend of the Slayer come to me?' He asked himself.

"You've got a real death wish." Spike stopped his advance. Buffy would get upset if he killed her friend, but something was off about the boy. There was no scent of fear in the air. Ford smelled more excited and elated than anything else. "It's almost interesting."

The female vampire strode into the area with the Watcher's book in her hand. She was pleased with the approval from him when he opened the book to read it.

"Oh, this is great!" Spike skimmed through the old pages. Even at first glance he noticed several items of interest. Hopefully this was the book he needed to cure Drusilla. He was tired of the game he played every day to keep up the façade. "This'll be very useful."

Spike continued to skim through the book. His eyes never left the text as he continued to speak, "So how did you find me?"

"That doesn't matter." Ford looked over Spike's shoulder at the vampire who gave him the information he needed. "I've got something to offer you. I believe this is the part where you take out a watch and tell me that I've got 30 seconds to convince you not to kill me. It's traditional."

'Could this wanker be any more of a prat?' Spike slammed the book closed. "Well, I don't go much for tradition." He grabbed Ford by the ear and pinched hard.

Spike rolled his eyes. There was only one thing he cared about, and he better not hear the boy offering him that. It would be the signature on his death warrant, if Ford did. "Well?"

"Oh, come on. Say it! It's no fun if you don't say it." Ford was more excited by the moment.

"What? Oh …" Spike huffed. This was ridiculous to him. He wanted Ford out of the factory and away from his Slayer. He reluctantly said the words the boy wanted to hear in a flat monotone voice. "You've got 30 seconds to convince me not to kill you."

"Yes! You see this is the best." Ford's dreams were finally coming to fruition. Ever since he'd heard about his illness, he was possessed with the dream of immortality. "I wanna be like you, a vampire."

"I've known you for two minutes, and I can't stand you." Spike nearly laughed. "I don't really feature you livin' forever." He turned to Dru. "Can I eat him now love?"

"Well, feature this. I'm offering you a trade." Ford knew he had something that every vampire wanted. He had the Slayer. "You make me a vampire, and I give you the Slayer."

'You made a big mistake this time, boy.' Spike ground his teeth together. 'You picked the wrong woman as your sacrifice.' He fought back every urge to rip the boy apart limb from limb. He practically shook with all of the pent up rage that built up from the first moment Ford told him about his exchange idea.

Dru bounced in place. "My Spike isn't going to let the bad boy play with his dolly, is he?" She taunted Spike about the Slayer.

"Stuff it, Dru." Spike whirled around in a swirl of black leather. He pulled Dru behind him. "Show our guest the way out," He called over his shoulder before he disappeared deep in the factory.

Angel visited Buffy during the night. She pried all the information about Drusilla out of him. At least she knew why Drusilla felt familiar to her. Angel sired both Spike and Dru. Their lineage was the same.

Buffy met up with Ford the next day at school, and he invited her out again. Instead of waiting for the time he wanted her to meet him she followed Ford after school. It was no surprise to her when Ford led her right to the club Angel told her about.

Buffy was upset that her friend would betray her like that. Once she was locked into the shelter, she tried to convince Ford that what they were doing was insane. Vampires weren't good people. She called herself all types of a hypocrite because she knew how she felt for Spike.

Buffy nearly lost it when Ford told her about the tumors in his brain. She wanted to cry for the reason that drove her old friend to such lengths to "live". She wasn't able to get him to see the folly of it all. When Ford's beeper announced the sunset, she tousled with him. She finally knocked him unconscious just as the bolted door started to open.

Spike walked in with Drusilla and a few minions. The minions jumped into the fray quickly. They were hungry, and the humans here were an easy meal.

Buffy warred within herself over what to do. She didn't want to kill Spike, but she couldn't allow him to harm innocents. She noticed Drusilla standing up on the catwalk. She ran across the room, bounced off a chair, and lunged for the railing to the catwalk.

Buffy grabbed Drusilla from behind. She wrapped her arm around the vampiress' neck and forced a stake against Dru's chest. "Let' them go, Spike. All of them."

Spike laughed. "Why should I let all these lovely little meals go?" He called up to Buffy from the bottom of the stairs. "They're the ones stupid enough to think that this was anything other than their funerals." He tried to keep up his bad boy image for the sake of the minions and Dru.

Several gasps were heard, and a few of the women started to cry in the background. The "followers" huddled closer to each other when the minions let them go.

"You will let them go, or you will find your girlfriend a bit hard to sleep with since she'll only be a pile of dust." Buffy's eyes flashed with a silver fire.

Spike stepped to the side at the bottom of the staircase. "Get out of here," He roared at the humans. None of them needed to be told twice. They all ran up the stairs and out into the night. Buffy waited off to the side at the top of the stairs until everyone was gone. She was so focused on Spike that she failed to notice the minions leave as well. Only Spike, Dru, and unconscious Ford and Buffy remained in the darkened club.

Spike started to walk up each step slowly. His gaze never wandered from Buffy's. There was something about the look in her eyes that was a bit scary and out of control. "I can't let you do that, pet."

"Why?" Buffy pulled Dru against her more tightly. She squeezed her hand around Dru's neck while the stake started to press into the dress over her heart. "You love her more than me, don't you? This is all just some game to you." Her eyes glazed over in anger and jealousy.

"Spike," Dru choked out in a tearful cry. She worried that Spike would allow the Slayer to dust her. She knew his loyalties no longer lay with her best interests at heart.

"She is my family, Slayer." Spike moved within three steps from the top of the landing. "You should know that it is instinctual to care for one's family. I have to protect her."

Buffy turned her neck to Spike's full view. "Then what is this?" She snapped her head back. "I know what you tried at the church. I've read everything I could find out vampire rituals." She twisted her wrist's healed scar towards him. "Why did you bind us if you were just going to leave me the first time you had to make a choice?"

Spike gulped hard. There was moisture in the Slayer's eyes, and part of his demon snarled within his mind and body to go to his intended. "I don't choose her over you in that way, Buffy," He spoke her name to get more of her attention. "But I have to restore her health before I can let go."

"I can take care of that problem for you." Buffy shoved about 2 inches of the stake into Dru's chest. "If she's dust, there is no problem to cure."

"I'm closer every day to the cure, pet." Spike tried to explain the delay to Buffy. "I have a book now that should hold the key to what I was missing before."

"Yes, it has some spells, rituals and prophecies that pertain to vampires and healing as well as other things." Spike gripped the railing near the top of the stairs. "Please trust me."

The request sounded absurd coming from the lips of a vampire, but at the same time it made perfect sense. "Why should I trust you? You haven't given me any reason to yet."

"I could have killed you already, Slayer, but I haven't." Spike moved up one step higher. "I didn't have to do the binding on Halloween. I could have simply drained you dry right then and there."

Buffy had thought about that herself often enough in the last month. Her grip on the stake loosened a little. "Why didn't you?"

Dru sensed a chance to escape. She butted her head back into Buffy's face and pushed away from the Slayer.

Buffy screamed out in pain and hit the ground. Before Dru was able to turn her attack on Buffy, the dark haired vampiress' body was knocked to the ground unconscious by Spike.

Strong arms pulled Buffy up off the ground and into his embrace. "I don't know why I couldn't kill you. I needed that binding as much as you did that night." He checked out her face for any injuries. "The thought of killing you makes me sick now. I'd sooner meet the sunrise than kill you."

Buffy gazed up into Spike's eyes longingly. "I feel you all the time, and it hurts." She rubbed the torn marks on her neck from when Angel pulled Spike off her in the church.

"I know." Spike kissed Buffy's forehead. "Until the claim is complete, it will be hard on both of us."

"Every hour of every day and night," Spike answered. He lifted her wrist to his mouth. His face shifted, and a roughened tongue licked along the slightly puckered scar from the ritual. His fangs sliced through her skin, and he drank several mouthfuls of her blood. He nearly purred from the wonderful taste of her essence.

Buffy jumped in Spike's embrace, and her free hand snaked up the back of Spike's neck. She arched against him and ground herself against his thigh. "Spike!" She needed to be as close to him as possible. She needed to feel his body against hers.

Spike ripped his fangs through his own scarred wrist. He offered it to Buffy's parted lips. "Drink a little, pet. It will help with the pain."

Buffy stared at Spike with lust and a sense of confusion. "It won't make me a vampire, will it?"

"Not this little of an amount," Spike reassured her. "It will strengthen the connection some and ease most of the pain. We've gone too long without renewing the binding."

Buffy nodded. She slowly leaned forward to wrap her lips around both sides of the wound. Sometimes the pain woke her in the middle of the night with a longing to find Spike so great that she had to force herself not to run off into the darkness.

Spike watched Buffy's lips pressed against his skin. He shifted the hardness in his pants and groaned from the warmth of her tongue and lips taking his blood within her. He longed to savor the moment forever, but he didn't want her to take too much. He wanted her just as she was: warm, sexy, inviting, and all his.

Buffy pouted when Spike's wrist moved away from her mouth. She saw the need and desire that she felt echoed in Spike's eyes, and she knew she wasn't the only one affected by the exchange.

"If we do that every couple weeks, it won't be so bad for either of us." Spike walked Buffy over towards the door. He stepped over Drusilla's unconscious form without a second thought for the vampiress.

"How will I know when to find you?" Buffy questioned. She felt Spike's presence around her often when she patrolled, but he rarely revealed where he was watching her from.

"I'll always find you." Spike caressed the back of his hand down Buffy's cheek. "I'm never far."

A moan from the bottom of the stairs reached them at the top. Buffy turned around to see Ford start to wake up. "What are you ..."

"I'll take care of it. No turning, I promise." Spike hoped Buffy realized what he was saying. Ford would die for his crimes against her, and nothing she said would stop him from seeing to that eventuality.

"I don't take betrayal lightly, Slayer." Spike hoped Buffy wouldn't fight him on this. He listed off several reasons for Ford's death to be justified in his mind before the last one. "Besides, the wanker is already dying, right?"

"Yeah, he is." Buffy nodded slowly. She motioned her head towards Drusilla. "You think she's going to take your actions as anything but betrayal?"

"All she cares about is her precious daddy." Spike rolled his eyes. "Now that she knows he's here, it's only a matter of time before she runs off to him."

"Got it in one, pet." Spike heard voices outside the door of the club. Someone was in the alley and moving quickly. "Go on. You're little troupe is coming."

Buffy nodded. With one last glance at Ford, she headed out the door and shut Spike in. The door was sealed from being opened on the inside, but she had a feeling Spike would rip his way out long before she returned later for Ford's body.

When Buffy reached the alley only the ragtag band of followers remained. The minions were nowhere in sight. Willow and Xander ran to catch up with Buffy. Angel walked closer to her. His eyes traveled to the wrist Buffy clutched with her other hand.

"They're contained." Buffy looked back towards the club. "They'll get out eventually, though. We should probably go. We can come back when they're gone."

Buffy sat at the foot of a freshly covered gravesite near dusk. She twirled the stake between her fingers like a baton twirler. She wanted to believe that Spike kept his promise to her, but she had to be sure. She refused to take a chance on Ford rising during the night to harm others.

Buffy knew she should be appalled over Spike's decision to drain Ford to death. She understood Spike's desire for vengeance. She was pretty upset about being drugged and lied to by one of her oldest friends, but was it right that Ford should die for that offense?

Buffy also realized that Ford being drained would serve a two-fold purpose for her. One, along with the blood she gave him earlier in the club, Ford would feed Spike enough to keep him from harming any innocents for a day or two. Two, Ford's death would be a lot quicker and less painful than if Spike left him alive to die from the terminal disease Ford carried.

Buffy had only Spike's promise that he would not turn her old friend. Spike seemed disgusted and angry at the idea of turning Ford into a vampire after Ford betrayed Buffy. He'd told her that he had no desire to sire a "wanker" like that, even for a minion.

Spike's vehement declaration that anyone who would betray Buffy in such a way was not worthy of living still rang through her mind. Vampire or not, Spike had definite ideas about loyalty to one's own. That was why he couldn't abandon Drusilla until she was healed as well. He felt it was his duty to finish what he promised to do for Dru.

"Another promise from him in what is starting to be a long line of what if's and future vows from Spike." Buffy sighed. She looked down at her watch. "I'll wait a couple more hours to be sure."

While Buffy stared at the name on the headstone, her mind wandered through happier memories and times that she spent with Billy Fordham over the years. From her crush on him through to his arrival in Sunnydale, each memory served as another reminder that life could change at any time.

Reality crashed in around her with a cold autumn gust of wind. This area of California rare got cold. Lately the temperature during the night dropped considerably and the days seemed cloudier and darker. Was it a portents of things to come? 'I wonder how much cloud cover is needed for vampires to come out during the day?' She made a mental note to ask Giles about that later.

About midnight, and with a sigh of relief, Buffy stood up from her place at the end of Ford's grave. She dusted the dirt off her knees and butt. She tucked her stake back into the back of her pants. "One promise down, several more to go." She looked over at a nearby mausoleum, and she spoke softly enough that only a vampire would hear her, "Thank you, Spike."

Spike stepped out of the shadows into the light of the moon. "You're welcome, Buffy." His gaze followed the disappearing form of the woman he should hate. "I keep my promises. We will be together soon." He turned around in the opposite direction and headed back to the factory. He was close to finding Dru's cure. The sooner he found it, the sooner he could end this charade with Dru.

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