Chapter Summary: Buffy and Spike have met Charmand and Antoinette in a dream like realm. They answered some of their questions, and Antoinette left Spike with a little prophetic message to think about. Now we have to deal with Dru, Angelus, and Joyce. All have their own reactions to what is going on around them. For some the reactions are good, and some could mean death for one of our lovers. How will they make it through another day without each other? Will the amulet help Spike's plan? What did Charmand mean about it not working quite as Spike expected it to?

**WARNING: This chapter is angsty. A character death is implied, but I hope you realize before the end of the chapter that it is just a set up. I would never truly kill off one of our Spuffy lovers. I warn you on the angst because one of our lovers is not going to realize that the other is not dead. So they will react traumatically to it. Everything will be taken care of in Chapter 11 though, and happiness will return.**

Several of the minions in the main room stopped what they were doing to watch the two vampires. They hadn't heard the strong commanding voice from the blonde vampire since before the vampiress' healing ritual. It shocked them to hear it again. Some of the minions who remained loyal to Spike were encouraged by the outburst. They were tired of Angelus' orders and treatment. They longed for Master Spike to exert his dominance again.

Spike rolled his eyes. "I'm not your boy anymore, Dru." He motioned his hand towards the now nearby wheelchair. "Angelus is your boy, pet. Your precious Daddy."

"Daddy is my man," Drusilla cooed. "Spike is my boy." She rocked Spike back and forth in her arms like a baby.

Spike pushed hard against Drusilla's chest. "I'm not your sodding child in any sense of the word." He twisted hard enough after the shove to fall out of Dru's arms and hit the floor.

Drusilla and the entire room stared at Spike's prone figure. "I chose my William to be one of us," she spoke with a whimpering voice because of Spike's denial.

Every fiber of his being, demon and human, wanted Spike to stand up and slap Drusilla. Thankfully Dalton saved him from making that mistake. Although it made him look weaker to the other vampires, he needed to keep his recovery a secret.

Dalton snaked his hands into Spike's armpits. He pulled up while Spike used his hands on the chair's arms to drag himself up into the chair.

Angelus' low laugh echoed through the opposite side of the main area. 'He is so pitiful. Even that Dalton freak has more power than Spike right now,' he thought to himself. An idea started to form in his head for a way to rid him of Spike without having to stake him. 'That would be pure sadistic poetry for him to take care of it for me.'

Spike growled. He glanced across the room and narrowed his gaze on the gloating Irish vampire's form. His eyes flashed amber, fangs dropped, and hands clutched the arms of the wheelchair brutally.

Dalton maneuvered each of Spike's feet into place on the footrests as if the vampire was unable to do it himself. He stood up in front of Spike when he was done.

"Thank you, Dalton." Though everyone else heard a strained offer of thanks from an agitated vampire, Dalton knew his Master was genuinely appreciative for his actions.

"You're welcome, Master." Dalton bowed then walked away. He sat down in a nearby chair in case he was needed again. Things were getting tenser every day in the mansion.

Spike refused to acknowledge Drusilla's presence directly. When he spoke again it was as if he was addressing thin air. "You only wanted a little live dolly to tease your precious Daddy with. That's why you drained me but begged him to turn me. You didn't want any kind of bond between us."

Dru scooted over next to Spike's chair. She dropped to her knees and cupped his cheeks with her hands. "No, my William." She shook her head back and forth. "I've always wanted my effulgent one." She tried to placate him.

Angelus growled low. 'Drusilla should not be touching the boy.' He started to move towards them both, but Spike's next actions halted him.

Spike threw Dru's hands off of his face. He grabbed the rims of the wheels and turned himself away from Dru. He started to wheel towards the corridor to his room.

Dru whimpered. Returning to his side, she whispered into Spike's ears. "My poor Spike." She swayed back and forth before whispering again. "The pixies tell me how bad you have been. I won't be able to save you from Daddy if you aren't nice to your princess."

Spike's eyes remained golden when he snarled at Dru. "I'll be just fine. You are the one that will need saving." He closed his eyes for a few moments. When they opened again they were back to the radiant blue of his human visage.

Drusilla looked at Spike with surprise. There was no love for her in his eyes anymore. All she saw was hate and anger. Her lower lip trembled.

Spike pulled Dru's head down to whisper in her ear low enough that only the two of them were able to hear what he said. "There will come a time for you to choose, Dru. I will never love you like I did before, but I might be able to save you." He let go of her head and straightened himself upright in the chair. "You'd do well to remember that. The rules have changed."

Dru watched Spike wheel himself away from her. She ran in the opposite direction to the bedroom she shared with Angelus. Angelus followed Drusilla out of the room.

Buffy held her mother's head in her lap when Joyce Summers came to. "Buffy?" Joyce asked.

"I'm here, Mommy." Buffy hadn't given any thought as to who would be at Giles house earlier. Neither had she realized that her irritation brought her demon face forward. The last thing she wanted to do was scare her mother.

"Buffy?" Joyce forced herself to sit up a little bit. She rubbed her temples. She definitely felt a headache coming on. "Your face, earlier. Did I imagine it?"

Buffy sighed and looked up at Giles for help. "Mom, Giles told me that you read my diary?"

Joyce nodded. "I didn't mean to, but you've been so down lately. You actually left your diary out, and I know that isn't like you." She tried to explain in a way that wouldn't make Buffy mad. "So, I read it. It scared me."

"With all that's happened now, we were going to have to tell you. I wish you hadn't found out that way." Buffy sighed. She hated that her mother read her diary, but they had more important things to worry about right now.

"There is no easy way to tell you that your daughter is a Slayer, but perhaps we could have made the knowledge easier to bear." Giles stepped in. He handed Joyce a hot mug of tea. He sat down in a chair across from the couch that Buffy and Joyce sat in. "We could have answered your questions along the way."

Joyce looked back and forth between Giles and Buffy. "What do you mean with all that's happened?" Her hands trembled around the mug when she took a sip of the soothing liquid. "What could be worse then finding out your daughter is sent out every night to kill things that can kill her in return?"

Buffy bit her lower lip nervously. "Mom, I'm not just the Slayer anymore." She covered one of her mom's hands with hers. "If you read my diary, then you know that vampires don't always kill people. They sometimes turn them."

Joyce nodded. She didn't like where this conversation was heading. "Oh Buffy. Your face." She started to cry. "Your dead, and you're going to eat me."

Giles took the mug from Joyce. He set it on the table before it was spilled all over both females. "She isn't like a normal vampire, Joyce. She has her soul. She won't kill anyone."

"Well at least not anyone that doesn't deserve it." Buffy hugged her mother to try and reassure her. "I'm still the same old Buffy. I just have a few more perks." She tried to lighten the mood with a bouncy comeback.

Joyce looked over at Giles in confusion. "But that sounds impossible. First I find out she is a slayer, and now you tell me she is a vampire but I shouldn't be worried?"

"I know it doesn't make sense, Mrs. Summers." Giles removed his glass and began a severe polishing of the lenses. "This is difficult for me to grasp, and I've been dealing with the demonology side of things for many years."

"I'm special, Mommy." Buffy tried to explain everything more simply. "Not many like me even in the family of Slayers." She shrugged. "Had to be the oddball I guess."

It took the next 4 hours to get Joyce to comprehend just what Buffy was before and what she was now. They brought out texts and diaries of past Watchers to help explain things to the grief stricken mother. Things got even harder when they told her that she needed to plan out Buffy's funeral.

"Angelus has to believe that I'm dead." Buffy reiterated. "It is the only way that we can guarantee he'll show up without thinking we are trying to trap him. We need the advantage that him thinking I'm dead will give us."

"Joyce," Giles had been told about 15 minutes into the first conversation to call her Joyce. "I know this is all overwhelming and difficult, but Angelus needs to be stopped. He's already tortured each of us in different ways. His announcement to you about Buffy's sexual activity was minimal compared to the deaths he's overseen."

"Yes, I could have." Buffy sighed. "If I had been able to kill him after the Judge, he wouldn't have gotten to Miss Calendar."

"It was too much to ask of you at the time, Buffy." Giles had fought with himself ever since Jenny's death to not blame Buffy. A part of him still wanted to berate his Slayer for not doing her duty. The fatherly side of him knew that he could never expect a daughter to be ready to kill the man she loved at the drop of a hat. "Yes, it was your job, but I can't imagine having to be the one to kill the one I loved."

"I won't fail you this time Giles." Buffy clutched Giles' arm tighter. "He will be dust."

"I know he will." Giles turned back to Joyce. "We have the opportunity to spring this trap on Angelus. We won't get another one."

Joyce, who had listened to each of them talk about the past, sighed resignedly. "All right. What do I need to do?"

In the middle of the funeral plans, Willow showed up at Giles' apartment. Giles directed Willow to research Spike's human name for any connections to the Council. He was still disturbed by a sense of familiarity to the Jamison name. He made dinner for Joyce, Willow and himself. Buffy went upstairs to catch a couple more hours of sleep.

"Why wouldn't Xander come, Willow?" Giles directed the conversation to Willow while they ate.

"He said that he wasn't going to help Buffy figure out how her and Spike were supposed to be together." Willow was upset with Xander. She didn't understand all of this either, but she knew they needed to support Buffy more now than ever. She hadn't faulted Buffy for going all fangy on Xander once Giles told them about the bond. She'd want to go all fangy too if Xander tried to say mean things about Oz or want to kill him.

"I hope he doesn't do something foolish. That boy is a naïve child when he doesn't get his way." Giles cut another piece of potato before he dipped it into a cream like gravy to eat it.

"He said something about taking care of things the way it should be, but he was just babbling then." Willow reassured everyone at the table. "You know how he gets when he's upset. Nothing makes sense."

"We should be careful what we say around him now, just in case," Giles said and Joyce nodded. "We have to do everything we can to protect Buffy. If the Council were to find out about this, there is no telling what they would do. I'm sure they would try to kill her at the very least."

"Not necessarily, Joyce," Giles sighed. "If they see Buffy as only a creature, they could capture her to study her. There is no telling what kinds of tests they would do."

"How could they do something so inhumane?" Willow was freaked out about hearing this.

"They wouldn't see it as inhumane if they didn't feel she was human." Giles responded in explanation.

"We'll do everything we can to stop that from happening, Joyce. I love Buffy like my own daughter."

The three inside had no knowledge of the dark-haired teenager that stood near Giles' window outside. At first he thought that he'd join them at the house to see if he could talk some sense into them. That woman he saw the night before could not be Buffy. He would prove to them all that it wasn't. The Council. Giles said something about the Council would be able to take care of it. 'Hmmm, just have to find a way to get a hold of them.' He snuck away and headed towards home to think on it further.

Angelus wiped Drusilla's blood from his lips as he walked over to Spike and Dalton in the main room of the mansion. "You're nothing but a waste of space, Willie." He'd spent the last couple hours trying to take Dru's mind off of Spike. No matter what he tried, Dru kept going on and on about the rules, pixies, and balls of sunshine. It had frustrated him beyond irritation.

Spike gritted his teeth. He wanted to stand up and beat his Sire senseless. "I would get better if you or Dru would remember to feed me properly."

Angelus laughed. He leered over him with a hand on each arm of the chair. "Listen to how pathetic you sound." He got right next to Spike's ear. "Needing to be fed like a little puppy." If he couldn't get Dru to stop talking about her William, he would take William out of the equation.

Spike moved back as far as he could in the chair. He was only half acting while he cowered away in fear from the elder vampire. Angelus had a look in his eyes that meant death and destruction. After the way Drusilla left earlier, he had a feeling that Angelus wasn't all that happy with him.

"Well let me tell you something … pet." Angelus used one of Spike's nicknames for others in a derogatory manner. "I've managed to pound Dru's obsession for you out of her system every night with my cock buried inside of her." He grinned maliciously. "After this evening's session, you aren't even a passing thought."

"But she loves me. She said she wanted to keep me earlier." Spike played off that his earlier tirade was just playing with Dru to try and make her seek him out more. He fought to maintain his pathetic façade that his world revolved around Drusilla.

"You mean your little show of dominance earlier?" Angelus guffawed. "That didn't even bother her in the slightest. She forgot you the moment I walked into the room and buried my fangs in her pretty neck."

Spike simpered a little for effect. He beat his fists weakly on top of Angelus' hands in defiance.

"My wicked girl only loves her Daddy. You were a convenience until my return, nothing more." Angelus hammered each word home with a mocking pat on Spike's shoulder.

"You're lying! As soon as I get out of this chair, I'm going to kick your ass back into soulland."

"I'm not lying, and you know it. You knew it earlier when you gave that weak attempt to make her think you didn't want her."

"She has to love me. I can't live without her." Spike pouted. "I was only trying to get her back."

"Then perhaps it is time I ended your pathetic life permanently." Angelus pulled back slightly to show Spike with his eyes that he was serious. "There is only room for one wolf in this henhouse and that's me."

"I'm saying you either remove yourself from our lives …" Angelus bit Spike's ear before he whispered the last words to him. "… Or I'll remove you myself." He stood up. "Think about that one, Willie. You have one day. Make it count. I'm off to hunt."

Spike gulped. With each step Angelus took away from him, he swore that his heart beat in his chest in fear. Things had to be taken care of and fast. "Dalton, take me back to my room."

Dalton pushed the wheelchair down the corridor to Spike's room. He carried the chair up the steps, and then continued the rest of the way towards the room.

Joyce left Willow, Giles and Buffy at Giles' apartment that evening after Buffy woke up. She headed straight for the funeral home to make the necessary arrangements. Even knowing that her daughter was still alive, it was creeping her out to be planning Buffy's funeral.

The undertaker looked at Joyce strange when she requested the empty coffin and the sunset service. She explained that she wished the body to be in its natural state, and she gave instructions for where the casket was to be delivered to and when.

After that was finished, Joyce headed back to Revello drive as quickly as she could. It was already dark out, and she knew about the many reasons she should be afraid to be out alone in the dark in Sunnydale. She locked the door behind her and readied herself for bed. The next two days were going to be trying on her every patience and nerve. She had to make everyone believe that Buffy was dead.

"Well that just can't be right." Giles read the web site page and Watcher records three more times. "That is absolutely absurd!" Willow had called him over a few minutes ago to see what information she found on William Jamison from her last few hours of research.

"What is, Giles?" Buffy stood up from the couch to stand behind Giles. She read over his shoulder. First she snorted, the chuckled, and then an all out guffaw filled the Watcher's apartment. "Oh my! The irony of that is priceless."

Giles wore a mask of expressions mingled from surprise, intrigue, anger, and unbelief. "There's no bloody way that is right."

"But it is bloody hilarious." Buffy mocked Giles' tone and accent. "I think it is perfect."

"There must be another William Andrew Henry Jamison from that time period." Giles closed the book. "Get on that monstrosity of a machine and find another one."

Buffy and Willow exchanged amused glances. Willow started clicking through more databases. "Sure, Giles. If you say so, but I doubt it." She wanted to laugh right along with Buffy, but the prospect of Giles and Spike … it was just too funny for reality.

"No one is leaving this apartment until we prove that to be a lie. I don't care if we are here until dawn." Giles was flustered. He huffed over to one of the chairs at the kitchen table and plopped down. He tried to concentrate on Louis' diary entries and other books, but his mind kept coming back to Willow's revelation. 'I don't care what it says, I'm not calling him Uncle Spike.'

"We don't have much time, Dalton." Spike quickly jumped up from the wheelchair once they were secure in his room. "Angelus is going to stake me himself if I can't make him believe that I'm dead in the next day."

"The box I asked you to bring me contains an amulet that I can use to mask my presence and my every vampiric essence from everyone." Spike rummaged through the box. He held up a wooden amulet, edged in gold, and covered in various symbols.

"I could stand right next to the poofter and he wouldn't want to believe his eyes because he wouldn't feel me." Spike rubbed the dust off the front of the amulet. "The diaries mentioned how this was created by the monks to help Charmand mask his presence when the Council was near. They weren't able to trace a vampiric signature because there wasn't one to find when he wore this."

"I thought that the vampire was dusted. Wouldn't this amulet have dusted with him?" Dalton was slightly confused. He didn't want to doubt his Master's abilities, but there were big problems if he was wrong about this.

"He left it with the Watcher that day because they weren't worried about the Council finding them. The wankers had long given up their chase of him and the Slayer," Spike explained. "The amulet was with the book when I took it. Though Charmand said it wouldn't work like I thought it does." He pondered that thought for a moment. "I can only hope that he means it works better, not worse. He would have warned me if it wouldn't cover my essence."

"Dream state, very strange." Spike spouted off a quick explanation. "We don't have much time to plan. Bring me one of the new fledglings and …"

Spike's sentence was cut off with the door being pushed open and one of the newest fledglings stepping into the room with some bagged blood. The fledgling screeched to see the Master Vampire standing and not in his wheelchair. The fledgling tried to run away, but Spike and Dalton grabbed him and tossed him back into the room.

"Well I guess you won't have to go get me one after all. We just had him hand delivered." Spike gagged the fledgling and tied him to his wheelchair. He buried his fangs into the fledgling's neck, and he drank enough blood to throw the new vampire into unconsciousness. When he was positive that the vampire was out for the count, he untied him.

"He'll do nicely. Need dust you see. Sorry mate, noting personal." He tapped the unconscious vampire's shoulder. "Now here is what you need to do now, Dalton. Timing is critical."

Angelus grumbled as he returned to the mansion just before sunrise after a boring and uneventful hunt. Drusilla hadn't joined him, and there was nothing worth even an ounce of his effort to kill that night. All of the precious Scoobies seemed to be in hiding.

The only bright spot of the night was the news that the Slayer would be buried after a sunset funeral, two nights from now. He had connections at the funeral homes in Sunnydale. He was positive that all of the Slayer's family and friends would be there to attend, and he was going to make sure that this was one funeral that no one would forget. He had plans to rid Sunnydale of every last one of them, and he now had the perfect place to kill them all in one grand gesture.

Dalton rushed across the main hall. His eyes were wide with fear. He raced over to Angelus and fell at his feet in a position of mercy. "Master Angelus, please come quick."

Angelus kicked Dalton over with the tip of his boot. "What are you sniveling on about, bookworm?"

"Spike is always strange. Nothing new there." Angelus shared a laugh with several nearby minions over his little joke.

"This is worse than normal, Master. He's threatening to kill himself with the next sunrise." Dalton looked up at the dark haired vampire. He had to play his part well or Angelus would never fall for this. His eyes echoed a genuine fear and submission to beg from Angelus. "The drapes are open, and he's just sitting there. He bit me when I tried to move him." He held up his arm where several bite marks dotted up and down it.

The other vampires watched Angelus to see what his reaction to this news would be. Spike was Angelus' Childe. By all vampiric rituals Angelus should try to stop his Childe from doing something foolish.

Angelus was in no rush to save the bleached thorn in his side. He knew that he'd have to at least make a show of trying to save Spike, or he would lose face amongst the clan. With a sigh he stood up. "Best go see if we can talk to him then."

Dalton stared at Angelus. He was surprised that the Master Vampire was acquiescing so easily to the request. 'He's not actually going to try and save him, is he?'

In answer to Dalton's thoughts, Angelus purposely tripped over something on the floor. He laughed from his face down position. "Must have nibbled on someone tonight who had a bit more than human food in their system."

'Oh so that is how he's going to play it.' Dalton was half relieved and half peeved that Angelus wasn't even going to try and save Spike.

Angelus finally made it to the stairs just as the sun was cresting over the horizon. Screams of pain and agony caressed his ears. He picked up the pace of his walk. There was no way that he'd make it to the room before Spike was dust. That suited him just fine. He could say that he made the effort, but he was just too late to save him. The screams ceased right about the time he made it to Spike's room.

In two separate parts of Sunnydale the wailing screams of a woman were heard. One belonged to the vampiress Drusilla, and the other belonged to the vampiress/slayer named Buffy. Both cried out for the same thing, the loss of one man and one vampire named William "Spike" Jamison.

Angelus stood in the doorway to Spike's room. He was careful to avoid the sun's damaging rays. Inside the room the draperies were open just enough to bathe the wheelchair in front of the window in sunlight. Even from this distance, Angelus noticed the pile of dust on the chair and the scent of singed flesh and hair in the air.

"Couldn't even go out facing your fate, could you boy?" Angelus laughed. The wheelchair was facing away from the window as if the former occupant didn't want to see the sun hit him in those final moments. "A coward to the end." He rejoiced in the demise of his Childe.

Nothing in the room or anywhere near felt like the essence of his wayward son. The bond between a Sire and Childe felt severed. Drusilla's screams, which echoed throughout the mansion, were further proof that Spike was no more. He turned away from the room, his gleeful laughter following him down the hallway to the main area. He had a woman to see to. He would pound any thoughts of Spike out of her head as he fucked her into oblivion. Today was a day to celebrate. Spike was dead.

Dalton stared into the room in pain. Even the faking of his Master's death disturbed him. If he was alive his racing heart might have given away the game to Angelus. He was once again grateful that he was a vampire. He trotted around the light path to close the drapes.

Dalton walked over to the passage to say goodbye and close the door. He was surprised to see that Spike was already gone. 'I wonder what happened.'

Everything had been quiet while they continued with the research. Willow had actually fallen asleep two hours before at the table. Buffy's screams snapped her from her sleep in a heartbeat.

"SIRE!" Buffy sobbed openly, clutching her legs to her chest. Willow and Giles moved to Buffy's side. "He's gone, Giles."

Buffy pushed at anyone that tried to get near to her. "Oh God, Spike's gone." She buried her face in her knees and cried out with her heart and soul for the one she could no longer feel the presence of.

Review Me Please!
Previous Chapter	Revenge Index	Next Chapter