His Tender Mercies by Enigmaticblue

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Chapters 14 & 15

Chapter 14: Perseverance

Wesley's call, as might be expected, came moments after Angel had left Cordelia's apartment. "They have Spike."

Cordelia blinked. It took her a second to recognize the voice on the other end of the phone. "Wes? What-"

"Drusilla just had another vision," Wesley said quickly. "Wolfram and Hart have Spike."

She sighed. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Huh?"

"What do you want me to do about it, Wes?" she repeated with ill-concealed impatience. "Angel left to go scare Lilah, and I don't know what you expect me to do."

"Angel's gone?" Wesley asked, thinking quickly. "Alright. I just thought if he was there-"

"I'll give him the message when he gets back," Cordelia assured him. "I'm sure we'll figure something out. How's Drusilla?"

She could almost hear him blush over the phone. "We're-she's just fine."

His slip was telling. "I take it you guys found a way to pass the time," she commented.

"That's none of your business," Wesley replied primly. "Given recent developments, however, I think it might be best for us to stay where we are."

"You do that, Wes," Cordy replied, only half-kidding. "It's probably better for Drusilla to be out of sight until we get this figured out."

They said their goodbyes, and she hung up the phone. She had a feeling that Buffy would soon be calling, but decided to take the cordless into the bathroom with her.

Not that she would admit it, but she hoped that it took the Slayer just a little while to figure out that Spike had been nabbed. Cordelia really needed some time to herself.

~~~~~

Giles' head went up as Buffy stormed into his flat. "They got him."

"I beg your pardon?"

"They took Spike," Buffy said, an edge of panic to her voice. "Those lawyers have him."

He frowned. "Are you certain? Perhaps he just went out, or-"

"The door to my house was open when I got home, just after sunset, and Spike wasn't there," Buffy said flatly. "Besides, I saw the same black SUV go back and forth along my street yesterday." The Slayer slammed her fist into the back of the couch, which shook ominously. "I never should have left the house."

Giles cleared his throat. "Perhaps. On the other hand, they might have come in while you were there and taken both of you. There's no way to be certain, Buffy."

She frowned. "Maybe so, but it doesn't matter now. We need to get him back."

Her Watcher pulled off his glasses. "I suppose we ought to call Angel," he said. "If they've managed to get Spike, they might well find Drusilla."

"Dammit," Buffy said, frustrated. "I can't believe I let Spike get taken. I was supposed to be protecting him."

Giles gave her a concerned look. "Buffy, you're doing your best, I'm sure. Spike is a vampire. If they need him so badly, I doubt they're planning on dusting him."

"We don't know that!" Buffy objected. "Spike makes me want to dust him, and I-" She stopped there, fearful of giving too much away. "I should call Angel."

Giles watched her dash away to use his phone, his curiosity peaking. Just the other day, Buffy had seemed to think of Spike as no more than an annoyance, and now-

It really was too horrifying to contemplate, so he shoved that thought to the back of his mind. There was no way Buffy would get involved with another vampire. Not after what had happened with Angel.

He was very nearly certain of it.

~~~~~

Lilah really didn't like the look that Holland had on his face. It was bad enough that Lindsay had succeeded in capturing Spike. The vampire was still passed out and trussed up in a specially prepared office. She, on the other hand, had been unsuccessful in even locating Drusilla after Wesley managed to spirit her away.

Here she'd thought the man incapable of anything heroic.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Lilah?" Holland finally asked.

Lilah didn't like his tone of voice either. She knew that the better Lindsay looked to the eyes of the Senior Partners, the worse she looked in comparison. She had worked too long and too hard, had made too many compromises, to give up a choice spot to him now. If there was one thing Lilah Morgan understood it was competition.

The competition at Wolfram and Hart was fierce.

She schooled her face into a placating expression, even though she was screaming on the inside. "I've been doing my best, but-"

"In this case, your best obviously isn't good enough," Holland stated, his tone chiding. "What I want to know is what you're going to do to fix it."

Lilah bit back the snarl in the back of her throat. "I'm working on it. I have our best psychics trying to get a read on her, but it's like she has some sort of shield."

Holland looked thoughtful. "I suppose that's possible. It's often difficult for psychics to see or predict others with similar abilities."

Seeing her chance, Lilah took it. "Look, sir, I realize that I might have done better, but this was Lindsay's project. I've got a lot on my plate right now, and I think it might be a good idea to let him take over this part. There's the telekinetic that we've been working on, plus the Gorman case. I don't want to give those projects less than my best when I'm in charge."

Holland seemed to consider her logic for a moment. "You're right, Lilah. I have been unfair. Lindsay ought to be the one in charge of retrieving Drusilla. I'll notify him immediately. I'm sure he'll come up with a solution to our little problem."

It was a thinly veiled barb, but Lilah decided that it didn't matter. She was well and truly clear of the whole mess, which was a very good thing. Her woman's intuition was telling her that this whole situation could blow up in their faces at any time.

She didn't particularly want to be there for that.

Grabbing a couple files from her office, Lilah stuffed them into her attache case and headed for her car. She'd spent enough long nights at the office to justify an evening at home. She'd have a glass of wine, turn on the TV, and go through her notes. It would be the perfect way to take her mind off what had been a hellish day.

That meant that it could only get worse. After all, just because she couldn't see anyone in the rearview mirror, didn't mean no one was there.

Angel's arm snaked around the back of her seat and pinned her against the plush leather. Lilah tried to stifle her gasp, but she was quite sure that the vampire heard her heart rate accelerate dramatically.

"You have such a pretty neck," he murmured. "I'm thinking of snapping it. Want to know why?"

"Why?" she asked, deciding to play dumb.

Angel was onto her game. "You're a clever girl," he replied. "You know why. I want to know what you want with Dru."

Lilah knew she had a couple of choices. She could keep her mouth shut and hope that Angel's soul kept him from doing her any lasting harm. Or, she could tell him everything he needed to know to wreck Lindsay's project.

That last option was really appealing, as long as no one found out that she'd spilled her guts.

"We were trying to resurrect Darla," Lilah confessed, deciding that in this case honesty really was the best policy. It wasn't like it mattered anymore. "The idea was to use her to drive you crazy. We wanted you dark."

Angel was impressed. Parading Darla around in front of his nose was bound to make him a little nuts. He still had a load of guilt from dusting her, and a lot of mixed feelings surrounding her. He loved her, but he didn't. He admired her, but she had been evil. He had wanted to be with her, even if it meant losing everything he'd worked so hard for.

Drusilla, on the other hand, simply poured gasoline on the flame of his guilt. There was nothing ambivalent about his feelings for her. Angel wanted to protect her, to make sure no one had the chance to do the same things he'd done.

In short, Angel wanted to save her with the same intensity that once he'd sought to damn her.

"Not a bad plan," he conceded. "What happened?"

Lilah sighed, feeling him loosen his grip slightly. "I don't know. The spell went wrong, and Drusilla came back instead."

"You were still going to try and use her to get to me."

It was a statement, not a question, and Lilah nodded. "Until Lindsay discovered that Drusilla has visions. Then he came up with the bright idea just to use her."

Angel didn't miss the bitterness in her tone, and he silently exulted. This rivalry between Lilah and Lindsay would hurt them in the end, of that he was sure. As long as Angel could hope to turn one against the other, he might yet manage to save Drusilla. "What about Spike?"

"We're going to make him an offer he can't refuse." Lilah tried to shift in her seat in order to see Angel's face, but his arm was keeping her immobile. "He's supposed to be the one that takes care of her."

Angel frowned. There was no way Spike would go along with whatever plan they cooked up. He was annoyingly independent. And, where it concerned Dru, the other vampire would cut off a limb to keep her safe.

Then, something about what Lilah said caught his attention. "Wait a minute," Angel said. "Where is Spike?"

"Wolfram and Hart has him," Lilah replied, surprised he didn't already know. "I would have thought-"

Angel frowned. He didn't like being left out of the loop, but then he'd been waiting inside the parking garage for Lilah to come out for a while now. "How do I get him back?"

That kind of betrayal would be far too hard to hide. "I can't tell you that," Lilah said. "You'll have to figure it out for yourself."

His arm like a vise around her throat, Angel ground out. "Actually, you are going to tell me, Lilah. You know why? Because people like you are much more interested in saving their own skins than in company loyalty. I might not like Spike, but he is family."

"Seventh floor," Lilah finally said. "But I don't know how you think you're going to get inside. The alarms go off as soon as a vampire enters the building."

Angel smiled grimly, even though he knew she couldn't see it. "I'll figure something out."

~~~~~

When Spike woke, he was still feeling fuzzy-headed from the drugs they'd pumped into him. He had gone back downstairs to get some more sleep after Buffy had left, only to wake at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. He'd been expecting the Slayer, which was why it took him a moment to realize that the scent he was catching was of men's aftershave, not Buffy's usual vanilla.

By the time Spike realized that the scent belonged to neither Giles nor Xander-the only two men who might enter the Slayer's house without waiting for someone to answer the door-it was too late. He had two tranq darts embedded in his chest, and Spike was out like a light.

There wasn't even the chance to put up a fight, which really annoyed him.

The room they'd put him in was dark, for the most part, although he could see light through the window. Even though it was hours till daybreak, Spike could feel his skin crawl. He had no way to protect himself from the sunlight, and he could all too easily imagine himself bursting into flame.

Right when things were actually getting good between him and the Slayer, too.

Spike wasn't quite sure whether or not to hope for rescue or escape. The chip would make fighting nearly impossible, and there was no telling whether or not Buffy would come after him.

Actually, she probably would, if only because Wolfram and Hart snatching him out from under her nose would have royally pissed her off.

It was too much to hope that her relatively friendly feelings for him would be strong enough to send her rushing in to the rescue.

Spike struggled with the bonds around his wrists. It felt like plastic of some sort, but it was strong enough to prevent him from snapping it. After a few minutes of fruitless struggle, he realized that he wasn't going to free his hands through strength alone. The next best thing was to get his hands in front, rather than behind him.

That process went a little better, and after nearly wrenching his shoulder out of its socket, his hands were in front, allowing Spike to inspect the bonds more closely.

They did look like they were plastic, but obviously not your standard stuff. Whoever had put them on his wrists had cinched them tight, and Spike knew that he'd cut himself up pretty badly in his struggles.

He now had half a chance at doing something, however. Spike got himself standing and went over to the door. It was, of course, locked, and he tried forcing it open with his shoulder. The door rattled in its frame, but it wouldn't so much as budge.

Spike frowned, wondering if his inability to force it open was due to whatever drug was left in his system or if it was the door.

Giving it one more powerful shove with his shoulder, Spike finally sat down on the floor again. There was nothing in the room, no furniture, nothing on the walls-except for the uncovered window.

And there was no way Buffy would manage to get him out before the sun rose.

~~~~~

They didn't have much of a plan, but Buffy wasn't willing to take the time to come up with one, not when they could be driving to L.A. A quick call to her mom, and Joyce had willingly lent her Jeep to Giles, since it was big enough to handle the four of them.

Tara and Willow were talking quietly in the back seat. They had made a stop at the magic store for basic supplies, hoping that they would be able to find anything else they needed in L.A. Buffy glanced over at Giles, who had put up surprisingly little fuss about heading out immediately. Perhaps her urgency was contagious, Buffy thought.

Giles was the first to break the silence. "Would you like to tell me what's going on, Buffy?"

"What?" She frowned. "We're trying to stop evil lawyers from using Spike."

Giles lifted an eyebrow. "Somehow I don't think your haste can be attributed solely to your desire to stop Wolfram and Hart."

'Crap,' Buffy thought irritably. She didn't want to talk about her feelings for Spike, but she had a feeling that was where this was going. "They came into my house and kidnapped one of my friends, Giles," she said reasonably. "That tends to piss me off."

"So you're calling Spike a 'friend' now?"

The careful tone caused Buffy to freeze. Spike was a friend, as hard as it was to admit to it. Her life would be infinitely more boring without him. Just the thought of losing him sent a bolt of panic through her that she didn't care to examine too closely. "Um, yes?" Buffy tried, hoping that her Watcher wouldn't ask too many more questions.

Giles breathed out a sound that was almost a sigh. The very tone of his Slayer's voice gave her away, whether she knew it or not. At least last time Buffy had been on "friendly" terms with Spike, it had been the result of Willow 's spell, and that had gone away. Now, however, it looked very much as though his worst fears were being confirmed.

He opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it just as quickly. "I do hope you know what you're doing, Buffy."

It was pointless to tell her that she had no business taking up with another vampire. Buffy had always done exactly what she wanted. The fears surrounding Spike's chip were just the same as they had been a few weeks ago, when Giles would have counted on Buffy to stake him should there be a problem.

Except, knowing Spike and his history, Giles also knew that if Spike's feelings for Buffy were similarly softening, it could be even better than the chip. A vampire's nature was to kill, but Spike had gone above and beyond his nature in his intense devotion to Drusilla. Should he develop the same level of devotion to Buffy, it was possible that he might actually be able to transcend his demon's inherent thirst for blood.

"I'm not sure what I'm doing, Giles," Buffy said quietly. "I just know that I want a chance to figure it out."

To her relief, Giles nodded. "All I will say then is be careful."

Chapter 15: The Sun Will Come Up Tomorrow

There was just enough shade in one corner of the room to ensure that he wasn't going to be immolated any time soon. Spike just hoped that the angle of the building was such that he wouldn't end up on fire later.

Spike had always been able to withstand more sunlight than Angel, mostly because he wasn't going to let anything keep him from doing what he wanted to do, when he wanted to do it. Even for him, however, the room was painfully bright. His skin crawled as his demon screamed in protest at being so near the light.

The door opening was more annoying than anything else, since there was no way he would be able to escape-not across the sunny expanse of carpet.

"I see you've finally woken up," the man said cheerfully. "Good thing the drugs wore off before the sun came up."

Spike stayed stubbornly silent. "Well, I won't keep you long. If you tell us where Drusilla is, this can all be over."

The relief washed over him like a wave. They didn't know where Dru was, which meant she was safe. "Don't think so, mate," Spike bit out. "Even if I knew, I wouldn't be tellin' you."

"Is that right?" Lindsay came a little farther into the room, although he kept a healthy distance. He knew Spike's chip was supposed to prevent him from harming humans, but he didn't particularly want to test it out. "Without Drusilla, we don't have any need for you. If you want to stay in one piece, you'll tell us where she is."

Spike laughed out loud. "I told you, I don't know where she is," he replied. "She left with Angel and his gang, an' we haven't kept in touch."

Lindsay knew there was only a slim chance that Spike knew Drusilla's location. From what they had gotten on the wiretaps at Cordelia's apartment, Wesley hadn't told anyone of the location. The man was cautious to a fault. "Too bad for you then," Lindsay said lightly. "We'll just have to work on finding her without you."

The lawyer turned and walked out of the room, leaving Spike still huddled in the shade, wondering exactly what their plans for him entailed.

He had a feeling that it wasn't going to be pleasant.

~~~~~

Wesley watched Drusilla as she stared out the window. While the opportunity to spend time together was nice, they were both feeling trapped. Add to that the fact that they had no toiletries and no clothing except what was on their backs, and they were both feeling uncomfortable.

Drusilla had been anxious ever since her vision of Spike. Wesley had to wonder if she wasn't still in love with the vampire, and if she was what that meant for them. She and Spike had been together for over a century. It only made sense that she was still in love with him. "Are you alright?"

She glanced back at him where he sat on the edge of the bed. "Yes."

Wesley winced at her short answer and lay back on the rough fabric of the comforter. "Do you still love him?"

"I will always love him," Drusilla replied quietly. "But his heart isn't mine any longer. It hasn't been for a very long time."

Wesley's arm had gone up over his eyes, blocking his view of her. "We wouldn't have to stay here," he said quietly. "We could go back to Cordelia's. If we're careful-"

"Not yet," Drusilla said softly. "It's not time yet." She came over to sit next to him on the bed, her hand tracing his jaw line. His clothing was wrinkled and he had a couple days' growth of stubble on his face. "You needn't worry, you know."

"Worry about what?"

"What I feel." She felt his skin, soft under the stubble. "Do you think I haven't seen Spike's path? He is caught up on a road that is not mine."

Wesley's arm moved so that she could see his eyes, vulnerable without his glasses. "You still love him, though."

"Isn't there anyone that you love, Wesley?" Drusilla asked softly.

He stared at her. How to tell her that he'd never been in love? Not really. Not when he'd been so busy trying to be the best Watcher in Council history. Not when he'd failed so miserably. His feelings for Cordelia had been infatuation, nothing more.

This-what he felt for Drusilla-was different.

"Not like you mean," Wesley replied hoarsely. "I know you'll always feel something for Spike, I just-wonder if you're ready to move on."

Drusilla laughed, although the sound had a bitter quality to it. She could usually force the memories to the back of her mind; forget that this body she wore had perpetrated horrible things. The fact that she'd been insane helped, since those memories didn't seem to be hers. She saw them through the hazy veil of time. She seemed to have found herself on the other side of her madness, intact, the same girl she had been before Angelus had seen her that fateful night.

No, not the same girl. She was stronger now.

Times like this, however, she could not help but remember the expression on Spike's face when he'd caught her with the Chaos demon. He had felt betrayed, and although Drusilla had known what was to come, she hadn't let Spike in on it. Of course, her conception of time had been just a little skewed so that she often mistook the future for the present. She had sometimes forgotten that what was to come had not yet happened.

She had ripped Spike's heart out. Drusilla could see that now.

The question, of course, was would she do the same to Wesley without meaning to. How could she explain her vision of the future? Her understanding of the past?

How could she hope to reconcile who she was with what she had been?

"I don't always understand time so well," Drusilla admitted. "I know what is coming, and I forget it's not here yet."

Wesley frowned. "Do you see-us?"

"I see what we could be. What you could be," she corrected herself. "You don't yet know your own strength."

He reached up to push her hair back from her face. "I don't want to lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere," Drusilla replied, meeting his lips with hers.

~~~~~

Buffy was impressed by the dramatic improvement in attitude Angel was demonstrating. She had to wonder if Cordelia wasn't involved somehow. She'd watched the two of them interact, and had to admit that her old high school nemesis was skilled at getting the vampire out of brood-mode.

Instead of being reactive and whiny, Angel was suddenly focused. "So you know how we're going to get Spike out of there."

Angel frowned. "Not exactly, but I do know how we're going to convince Wolfram and Hart to leave us alone."

Cordelia raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? How's that?" She was in a much better mood after having her back scrubbed by Phantom Dennis. There was no way she'd even consider living in an apartment without a ghostly roommate after this.

Angel shrugged. "I'm going to do what I should have done from the beginning. I'm going to see to it that it's in their best interests to leave her alone. Once they realize that I have no problem killing every single one of them to protect Dru, they'll back off. And if they don't need Dru, they won't need Spike."

It was impeccable logic, except for the fact that Angel was threatening to kill people. On the other hand, they had interrupted Buffy's plans for Spike, which was never a good thing. No one got between the Slayer and her guy. It was the unwritten law of the universe.

"That's all well and good," Giles commented, "but first you have to get inside. I thought you said that there were alarms that warned them of the presence of vampires."

Willow raised her hand. "I think Tara and I can help with that. There's a charm we can make that will fool the alarms into thinking Angel is human."

Angel looked surprised. "You can really do that?"

Tara shrugged. "I-it's n-not too hard. It's j-just a little more c-complex than a shielding spell." She blushed as everyone's eyes turned to her. "Willow's really g-good w-with that k-kind of thing."

"Tara's the one who figured out the spell," Willow said loyally.

Angel gave both witches a respectful look. "How long before it's ready?"

They met each other's eyes, seeming to communicate silently. "An hour?" Willow hedged. "Two at the outside."

Buffy didn't like the thought of any more time going by than had already elapsed, but she knew there weren't any other options. "Won't we have to wait till after dark?"

Angel shook his head. "There's a sewer access they don't know they have. We'll go in that way. Once we find Spike, you'll get him out while I go knock some heads together. Hopefully at that point we'll be able to let Wesley know he and Dru can come out of hiding."

"And if that doesn't work?" Giles asked.

Angel frowned. "If that doesn't work, I don't know," he replied honestly. "Wolfram and Hart is pretty powerful. It's hard to tell what they'll do."

~~~~~

"How long before you can work the spell?" Lindsay asked the witch, who had often done things of that nature for Wolfram and Hart. The lawyer had realized that there was no way Spike was going to give Drusilla up, nor was it possible to strike a deal with him and hope he would carry it out. Most likely, once they let the vampire go, they would never see him again.

On the other hand, by putting the geas on him, Lindsay could be assured that Spike would lead them directly to Drusilla, without even knowing he was complicit in the plan. Plus, he would be helpless to counteract it. It was the perfect solution.

The witch, an old woman who had never told him her name, pursed her lips. "It's going to take a few hours at least," she replied. "Putting a geas on a vampire is not done in a matter of minutes."

Lindsay frowned. He hated to take the time, but now that he was in charge of retrieving Drusilla, he wanted it done correctly. If he was in too much of a hurry, he could very easily end up losing what little chance he had. "Fine. But I want it done as soon as possible."

He stalked down the hall back to his office. Lindsay would be a lot happier when this whole thing was over. Maybe once they got Drusilla back in custody, they could find a way to use her without Spike. In fact, other than helping them find her, Lindsay wasn't sure why they had to have him, especially when it didn't look like he was going to play nice.

In fact, when this was all over, Lindsay was thinking that it might be better just to dust the vampire and be done with it.

It was never smart to leave a potential enemy alive, and when he found out that he'd been used, that's exactly what Spike would be.

~~~~~

Spike was really bored. There was nothing and no one around to distract him-nothing to take his mind off the fact that he was hungry and hot and very cranky. Anybody who said that vampires didn't feel temperature hadn't left one on the edge of a sunbeam all day.

He might have tried to sleep, since that was what he was supposed to be doing in the middle of the day, but the one time he'd dozed off, the sun had moved.

His hand hurt abominably.

Spike hated feeling this helpless. It reminded him too much of those months spent in a wheelchair, knowing that Angelus could pretty much do whatever he wanted with him. That had probably been the worst time in his unlife.

Except perhaps for the time he'd spent in Harris' basement, before he'd known he could hurt demons. That had been worse.

To distract himself, Spike kept going over and over in his head what he and Buffy had talked about the last few days, everything she'd said to him, every small step they'd taken towards each other. The feel of her lips on his-her hands on his bare skin.

Spike stopped right there. Distracting as it was, it wasn't helping him cool off any. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The patch of shade in the room had grown larger over the last hour until he was finally able to stretch out. Spike felt a sense of relief as he realized that the sun would soon be going down. The relief didn't last all that long as he realized that the passing hours only brought him closer to whatever that lawyer was planning for him.

Spike wasn't in the mood to lie to himself. They would try and find a way to use him to get to Dru, he was sure of it. His job was to make sure he was dust before he let anything like that happen.

A noise at the door had him struggling to his feet. He clenched his jaw, thinking of the pain that would inevitably come from fighting them, but Spike wasn't going to have them think he was helpless.

He wondered how many throats he would be able to rip out before the chip fried his brain for good.

Spike's jaw dropped as he saw who was at the door. "Buffy?"

She flashed him a quick grin. "Were you expecting someone else?"

His eyes wide, Spike watched as she dragged a burly guard through the door. She was dressed smartly in a business suit, which surprised him. He hadn't thought she owned one of those. Plus, she was wearing glasses. It wasn't a great disguise, but Spike doubted anyone would readily recognize her. "You-how did you get here?"

"Angel," was her succinct answer, the evidence of which appeared just behind her.

The older vampire swept the room with his gaze. He was also in a suit and tie. "You okay here, Buffy?"

"Yep," she replied. "I'm just going to free Spike, and then we'll head for the sewers. Are you sure you don't want us to stick around?"

"So Spike can cause more trouble?" Angel asked sarcastically. "I don't think so. I've walked in there and scared the crap out of them before. I think I can handle it."

Spike was just as astonished to see his grandsire as he was to see the Slayer. "How did you lot get in here?"

"There was a sewer tunnel involved," Buffy replied. "I'm sure you'll feel right at home." When she couldn't snap the bonds on his wrists, she sighed. "We're going to have to do this elsewhere. I didn't bring a knife." She glanced back at Angel. "I'll get him out. You do what you have to do."

Angel nodded shortly and then left. "How did you get him to agree to ride to the rescue?" Spike asked incredulously.

Buffy shrugged. "It was sort of a 'you messed with something that's mine' kinda deal." She grinned again. "You know Angel has issues."

She was teasing him. And, if he didn't miss his guess, the Slayer was also flirting slightly. "What-"

"Leave now, talk later," Buffy instructed, slipping off her jacket and hanging it over his bound wrists. She gave her disguise a critical look. "Not the best way to go, but it'll do," she decided, slipping a hand through his arm and leading him to the door.

"How did you know where I was?" Spike asked in a low tone as she led him down the hall to one of the elevators.

She lifted an eyebrow. "Angel found out. He was pumping one of the lawyers for information, and I guess she wanted to hurt the guy who grabbed you. She told Angel where you were, and voila. Here we are."

The elevator doors slid open, and Buffy led him inside. Luckily, it was empty, and Spike found himself relaxing slightly. "So Peaches is going to do what?"

"Hopefully scare them into leaving Dru alone," Buffy replied. "I'm not sure how, and I don't think I want to watch. He's really pissed off about the whole thing."

"Yeah, so am I," Spike muttered. He breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator hit the basement without stopping.

Buffy tugged him along the hallway, stopping when she saw a woman approaching. "Crap."

"I see you got him out," Lilah commented. "You're just in time."

The Slayer frowned. "Just in time for what?"

"Lindsay was going to lay a geas on your vampire. He would have led them right to Drusilla without knowing what he was doing." Lilah smiled smugly, stepping aside to let them pass. "Nice work. Hope you two crazy kids have a great life."

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Buffy rushed past Lilah, Spike firmly in her grip, pausing only to murmur a brief thanks. They managed to make it to the sewer tunnel without any more interruptions, Spike dropping through the hole awkwardly with Buffy close behind.

No sooner did he have his feet on solid ground again, than the Slayer's lips were pressed to his, her hands shoving him back up against the tunnel wall. "Don't ever get vamp-napped again," she ordered, finally breaking off the kiss. "I mean it."

"You got it," he replied hoarsely. "No more gettin' snatched by evil lawyers."

Buffy smiled. "Good. Now let's get out of here." Then she stepped back, frowning. "You know, you really look like crap."

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