Title: Past Glory Author: Sandy Rating: NC-17 Pairing: Spike/Buffy Spoilers: S5 up to Tough Love, AU after that although elements of S6 will appear throughout the story. Disclaimer: Alas, not mine, I just borrow them occasionally Feedback: Gives me the warm fuzzies A/N: For the purposes of this story, the Knights of Byzamtium, although suspecting that the Slayer is protecting the Key are not aware that Dawn is the Key. Chapter 29 Spike had wanted to make love when they went to bed, of course, but Buffy had insisted that he wasn't healed enough so they'd ended up just cuddling and kissing and touching and holding each other until sleep overcame them. Spike felt just fine the next day. His happiness knowing that Buffy did love him mixed with his rapidly healing body made the vampire hyperactive and almost giddy. Buffy couldn't get near him without his reaching out to touch her, stroke her arm, take her hand, steal a kiss or drape an arm around her. She permitted the excessive PDA's simply because she was feeling a little giddy herself. She'd passed a major hurdle in her relationship with Spike last night. She may not have completely verbalized her feelings, but she'd acknowledged them both to Spike and to herself. She felt ridiculously happy. She hoped that tonight they'd finally run Warren to ground. She wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do about him once they found him. Maybe she'd just e-mail Riley. Ethan Raynes had certainly ceased to be a problem once Riley's group had arrested him. Buffy frowned at the thought. Did she really want to place another evil genius into the hands of The Initiative or whatever they were calling themselves these days? Maybe Giles would have a better suggestion. Anyway, once they took care of that problem, Buffy thought it might be nice for her and Spike to get away for a couple days, just the two of them. Sunnydale would survive if she took a few days off. *** "Are you ready with that spell yet?" "Almost. Don't rush me, okay? If I make a mistake we may never find what you want." "What *we* want, Short Round. You're in this too, remember?" Jonathan glanced nervously at Warren. "Why won't you tell me what we're going to do once we get there?" "I did tell you. There's a lot of cool stuff there, just ripe for the taking. We take what we want, sell what we don't need." "Nothing that will hurt anyone." "Don't worry about it, Gandhi." Jonathan turned away with a frown. He *was* worried. Warren and Andrew were still keeping secrets from him, only telling him part of the scheme. He needed to find out exactly what they were up to. And he had a plan as to how to find out. He just needed a little time alone. Finishing his preparations, he began to cast the spell. A map of Sunnydale lay on the floor and as Jonathan passed his right hand over a talisman he held in his left, a beam of fragmented light erupted from it, arched over the map and landed on several spots illuminating them. One spot glowed brighter than the others. "That's the best place to enter," Jonathan said unenthusiastically. "Good," Warren said with satisfaction. "We'll investigate tonight. Take a break, Obi Wan. Andrew and I will make the final preparations." As Jonathan watched Warren walk away he began to mentally make preparations of his own. *** Xander was perhaps lucky in that by the time he showed up, the lovey- doveyness had morphed into bickering over what Spike's role was going to be that evening. As the three got into Xander's car, Buffy made sure that Spike was comfortably settled in the backseat and then climbed in next to her friend. Turning around in her seat she reminded Spike, "You are here as an observer only. Do not help. Do not fight. In fact, do not get out of the car. Got it?" Spike gave her a disgusted look. "Yeah, Slayer, I got it. I got it the previous three hundred times you told me. Can we just go now?" Xander hid his smile as he watched Buffy turn back around in a huff. He had to admit it was funny watching Buffy act all mother-henny over a tough-as-nails wiseass vampire. He did feel kinda sorry for Spike though. A guy could only take so much mothering, after all. Starting the car, he headed towards their first stop of the evening. *** Jonathan thought he heard a noise and glanced around nervously. Warren and Andrew were out getting supplies and he didn't expect them back for some time yet. Reassured he was still alone, he turned back to Warren's computer terminal. He'd used a spell he'd been secretly working on the past few days to hack into the computer and decode Warren's encrypted file. The first part of it had been little more than a journal detailing their recent activities, but this last part consisted of something entirely different. It outlined Warren's true goal for tonight's outing. The more Jonathan read the more frightened he became. Scrolling down the page, he began shaking his head, muttering, "No, no, no, no, no." He was so caught up in what he'd discovered that he failed to hear the footsteps coming up behind him. "It's not polite to read other people's diaries, Bridget," a voice said behind him. Jonathan jumped and swung around to find himself face-to-face with Warren. "You can't be serious about what I just read," Jonathan insisted, his voice shaking slightly. "Wrong again. I'm completely serious." "I can't let you do that, Warren," he said standing up and trying to inch around the taller man. "And I can't let you interfere." Warren raised his hand and Jonathan rushed forward and pushed against him, knocking Warren out of his way. He started to run, but hadn't gotten far before he felt a flash of pain rip through his body. And then there was only darkness. *** They were driving down the street when Spike's sharp eyes caught sight of a black van parked outside a darkened doorway near the far end of a narrow alley. They'd been cruising the warehouse district as the final leg of patrol before beginning the search for Warren. "Stop the car, Xander," Spike commanded. The vampire's tone caused Xander to immediately hit the breaks. "What is it, Spike?" Buffy asked, her body tensed and ready for action. "Back up a bit to the alley entrance," Spike told Xander. Flashing a quick glance at Buffy he said, "I spotted a black van down that alley. Could be Warren's." By this time, Xander had reached the alley and stopped the car. They all saw it now, little more than a larger, darker shadow among a myriad of other shadows. "You think it's his?" Spike rolled down the window and took a deep breath. He shook his head and said with disgust, "Wind's blowing in the wrong direction. I can't pick up any scents except garbage but the model and year's right. I say we go investigate." "Spike, I want you to stay..." "No." "Spike..." "Forget it, Slayer. If he's there, I'm going with you." "I told you I didn't want you leaving the car. You couldn't fight him anyway, Spike, even if you weren't already hurt." Spike's eyes took on a frosty, predator's hue. Buffy looked at his set cold face, his taunt body and realized she'd have to knock him out herself to keep him in the car. "Fine, Spike. Just try to keep out of the way." Opening her door, she exited the car. Spike followed. Xander backed the car up so that it wouldn't be spotted, parked it and joined his two friends. "Okay, let's be as quiet as we can. No need to give him warning we've found him if it is Warren." The two men nodded and all three made their ways cautiously up the alley. "It's his van, all right," Spike growled. Buffy nodded and continued leading the way. They stopped abruptly, plastering themselves against a wall, when a door suddenly opened and Andrew stepped out of the building. He headed for the back of the van, opened the rear doors and then returned to the building. It didn't appear that he'd spotted them so they continued moving stealthily towards the now opened warehouse door. Just as they reached it, Warren's voice came mockingly from behind them, "You know you'd think you'd be smart enough to check for surveillance cameras." They whirled around to see their dark-haired nemesis standing with what appeared to be an automatic rifle pointed at them. "Actually, Slayer, I'm glad to see you. It saves me from having to track you down." Buffy eyed him coldly. "Gee, Warren, if you'd just left a forwarding address we could have had a reunion sooner." Warren's smile was equally cold, "I wasn't ready yet. Now I am." While Warren's attention was focused on Buffy, Xander made a dive for the rifle in his hands. Swinging the weapon at Xander, Warren pressed the trigger. "NO!" Buffy's cry echoed throughout the alley. Warren was barely able to swing the gun around quickly enough to also take out the Slayer. He was too slow to stop Spike however. A scream of rage erupted from the vampire and Warren's body went flying as Spike crashed into him. A howl of pain followed and Spike was lying helpless on the ground, curled into a ball, hands wrapped around his head. Warren got up shakily and stood over the shuddering vampire. "Hard to believe that once upon a time you were a powerful vampire," Warren sneered, "and now look at you. Pathetic." Taking aim, he pulled the trigger a third time. tbc...