A/N: In this story I need you to believe one thing - the adjoining spell is not needed by a pure slayer.

Chapter 9

Buffy's first priority on entering the room was to locate Spike. Through the eyes of the entity that had control of her body she frantically checked him over as the Power behind the Original Slayer focused on his captors.

Sensing her vessel's distress, the Patron of Slayers immobilized the protesting lower beings with a blast of energy that pinned them to the wall and moved towards the damaged vampire. Once she faced him, she allowed the girl within to surface.

"Oh God, Spike! Are you okay?" Buffy asked tremulously, tears filling her eyes.

Spike rolled his eyes in a display of mock irritation. His inner beast and his William side were both secretly chuffed at her genuine appearance of concern, but his insecurity over his position in her life influenced his sarcastic nature to act as a defensive shield.

"Do I bloody well look okay, Slayer?" He raised his eyebrow defiantly, unwilling to show his vulnerability to the pulsers. The rasping quality of his voice and the blistering welts on his skin were-thankfully-the only outward sign of his condition.

Buffy felt his relief pulsating through the bond, belying his bravado. She felt his pain as strongly as if she herself had suffered the injuries.

Spike felt her ire as it escalated and her human features started to reappear. Oh yeah, his slayer was pissed. As she moved to face his tormentors, he stopped her. "Don't, pet. No tellin' what these bastards would do if they found out who you were. Let the Slayer run this little show."

"Fine," Buffy replied, pouting unhappily. She instinctively knew that now was not the time to share with him the knowledge of who she really had within her.

Moving swiftly, Buffy utilized her new strength and broke the shackles holding him in place.

Despite the pain of his injuries, Spike held himself regally once his feet were firmly back on the floor.

Buffy silently offered him her wrist, knowing that he needed blood to heal.

His eyes widened momentarily at the thought of her offering him such a precious gift. Clamping down firmly on his inner demon that begged to accept her blessing, Spike leaned in to huskily whisper in her ear, "I'll be taking you up on that offer, pet, but it will be without the audience."

Reaching into the pocket of his jeans as he used her body as a shield from the eyes of the two humans, Spike retrieved the ring. If the legends of the Gem of Amara were right, then he would be healed without the need for her blood.

"Oh! You are so gonna be explaining that one, Spikey," Buffy mumbled as she watched, eyes wide, as his body healed.

Buffy felt the pull of her inner visitor as She urged the blonde to finish things and Buffy let the entity take over once again.

"Are you ready?" the lavender eyed Power asked the bleached blond vampire in her own language.

Spike nodded sharply, his eyes narrowing on the humans that had dared to torture him.

She grabbed his hand, encompassing him within her protective field and, as one, they turned to face the two bound humans.

"Our judgement against evil is not used on humans," the entity began. She waited for their expressions to relax slightly. "That is, unless a human decides to involve themselves in the supernatural world."

Spike chuckled at the fear that flashed over the faces of the two that had mistakenly sought to control powers that were beyond their understanding.

Maggie Walsh struggled with the binds that held her, her arrogant belief in the superiority of technology coming to the fore, her interest piqued by the events she had witnessed. "How did you heal him? What are you? If you release us and co-operate I will guarantee you and your pet's safety," she questioned and offered in a rush, sure that she held the upper hand; they were still in her facility after all. This female, whatever it was, could well be the answer to her search. She was ecstatic with the thought of the accolades she would receive from her superiors with the success of her mission.

Buffy grinned at the idiocy of the woman. "I did not heal him. He healed himself. He is the intended mate of my vessel, not a 'pet'. Humans are our pets and you have placed yourself under our jurisdiction by daring to harm a higher being. As to what I am; what we are? We are retribution."

Spike kept his features blank as he struggled to understand what the little slayer was saying. It seemed that there might have been some changes in the three days he had been gone that he was not aware of. His interest at the word 'retribution' kept him quiet, he really wanted to see what that was about.

Riley Finn kept quiet; his military training conditioned him with the ability to focus on the conversation, allowing his superior to talk as he studied the two sub-terrestrials and attempted to find a way to free himself and Maggie. He focused on the female; she reminded him of someone, but he couldn't, for the life of him, remember who.

Maggie tried a different tact. "Look, you are in my facility, you can't possibly leave here without my help. Why don't you let us go and we can discuss things."

"Tell me, is leaving as difficult as entering?" the tiny blonde asked with a smirk.

Maggie just stared as she realised her ace in the hole may have turned into a deuce, and in this case, deuces were definitely not wild.

"Enough!" the blonde announced with finality. "You have been judged guilty of interfering with the warriors of the higher realms. You have tortured and experimented on beings that you wrongly believe are beneath you. You have delved into a world that you do not understand. Do you have anything to say in your defence?"

"We have done nothing of the sort!" Maggie exclaimed indignantly. "We have captured sub-terrestrials; mere animals. We are using the information we gain from our studies of these predatory beasts to further enhance our military ability to protect the citizens of this country from all our enemies."

Buffy snorted with disgust. "They are not animals or beasts or sub-terrestrials. They are supernatural beings that are so far above you that you will never understand what creates them. You say you are acting for the protection of your country? They fight for the balance of the universe, all realms and dimensions. Your petty human skirmishes mean nothing in the greater scheme of things. You are without the knowledge or intellect to understand the enormity of the battle for balance that you have dared to interfere with. Your own words condemn you."

The furious Source of all slayers took a deep breath then focused hard unforgiving eyes on the two humans bound by her powers. "I give you one week."

Maggie looked at her in confusion.

"You have one week to close down this facility and leave this town. You have one week to inform your superiors all that you have been told by me. If you are not gone and your superiors do not cease following this disgraceful path, you will receive your punishment and they will not be offered leniency when they cross our paths next time."

Before Maggie could open her mouth to inform the foolish girl that neither her nor her superiors would stop their mission for the perfect soldier, the blonde power continued. "If you have not left this place in one week you will earn your punishment."

"What punishment?" Maggie scoffed.

"You will feel the pain that you have inflicted on your victims, each and every one of them. You will feel the pain of the families that have lost a loved one at your hands; every slight, every abuse, every injury and operation. No injury shall manifest physically and no medication shall ease your punishment. If you chose to follow the path you are on, your mind will eventually break, but still you will suffer. In the end you will be restrained and imprisoned much like your victims before you. The choice is yours."

The blonde entity turned to Riley. "You are a soldier that was following orders, however, you chose to enjoy the pain you inflicted. You and all like you also have only a week to leave this place. If you continue on this path," She said before pointing to Spike, "he will be the one to exact retribution."

With a wave of her hand, She released them from her bindings, grabbed Spike's hand and turned to leave, ignoring Riley as he attempted to jump them from behind.  With no apparent effort on Buffy's part, he was thrown back from her power shield.

Hand in hand the two powerful beings left the compound, never once even bothering to look at the mess they had left behind.