Summary: Spike has a soul, but no pesky chip. He left SunnyD and came back with Faith and Jonathan. A vampire named Chun made some troubles, using a girl with magical powers to make himself powerful. Spike dusted him. Spike, Faith and Jonathan have Willow with them in the hopes that the ex- badguys can help her deal.
 

I Hurt

Spike and Angel wandered through the cemeteries, neither speaking. Angel was brooding again, and Spike seemed to be doing the same. Although brooding might not be the best word; perhaps 'plotting' was a better word for what Spike was doing.

Angel was wearing a leather duster. He had put it on hoping to blend in with Spike, to look like more of a team. Naturally, Spike had stymied him by not wearing his own duster.

He was driving Angel steadily crazy. Just little things, so far.

"Something wrong, Soul Boy?" Asked Spike.

"Nothing at all, Soul Boy Junior." Growled Angel.

For a few more moments Spike was silent. Then he spoke, a low current of anger in his voice. "You know, I have had more than enough of you. I've tried to be a good sport about this, I really have, but every opportunity you get, you throw something, anything, in my face. I'm beginning to get the feeling you don't really like me very much."

"I hate you." Spat Angel. "I really do. You're getting that, right?"

"And on top of that, you feel responsible for all the mayhem I've caused." Replied Spike. "Hey, look, I've got a soul now! Aren't you just the proud grandpa?"

Angel growled. "And let's not forget the little Buffy-stalking going on. Or perhaps the fact that you've taken Willow and Faith off to who knows where."

"Buffy knows where the new secret hide out is." Pointed out Spike.

"I'm just saying that even with a soul you're still being annoying and downright bad." Replied Angel stubbornly.

"Hey! What's the name of my super-hero team? The Redemptionists. Doesn't that say anything to you?" Asked Spike.

"It says you have colossally bad taste in team names." Replied Angel. "I mean, the Redemptionists? Rock and Roll bands don't have names that awful. It tops the awful charts."

Spike grinned. "Glad to see you're warming to the name."

Angel threw his arms in the air. "You. . .you are the most exasperating creature I've ever met! It pains me deeply that I was responsible for your continued-and annoying-presence on this planet!"

"Aw, stop it. You'll make me blush." Said Spike.

**********

Xander watched the sun rise. It was a normal sunrise, but he liked normal sunrises.

Mostly because sometimes the sun didn't rise, and that wasn't so fun.

He glanced at Giles, who had worked right through the night. Anya was gone, off to get some sleep hours ago. He had stayed. Mostly for emotional support, since he was really, really bad at the researching thing.

He glanced at the sunrise, thinking of the local vampires. Mostly the local good vampires.

Because he was a little worried about them.

They went patrolling together. Alone, together. And neither of them so much as hid the fact that they hated each other with a passion. A royal passion. A passionate passion.

Hm. So much for his descriptive vocabulary.

Right now either or both of them could be dust.

And they still hadn't found Cordelia. Xander was trying to be unemotional about that, but the truth was that beyond being an ex-girlfriend they had almost, sort of, been friends. In the way people who bicker a lot are friends. They hadn't got along very well at all, but they'd been friends. He'd got a Christmas card from her. Hell, he'd SENT a Christmas card to her. And he didn't send a lot of cards.

And she was missing. All in some sort of big, secret disaster. Although Angel had sent his people back to LA to keep working there, he was staying here, hoping the Watcher's Council knew something.

And there was another amazement. The Council was being helpful. Very helpful. All they had to do was threaten to give Spike Travers' new phone number, and help would come quickly. All Spike would say was that he was an old hand at stalking. Along with a wink at Buffy.

Okay, that was another thing that had Xander going ew all the time. Spike and Buffy. There were definite vibes there. They were dating, even.

He glanced at Giles, a few thoughts clicking together suddenly. "Hey. Buffy said you had a date tonight." He noted.

"I lied." Said Giles.

"You. . .lied. To Buffy? Didn't we agree that's a bad idea?"

"Better than telling her what I'm doing." Said Giles pleasantly. "I'm sure you'll agree."

"Er. . .okay, I'll bite. What are you doing, G-Man?"

"I'm researching Drusilla." Said Giles.

"Oh. Uh, okay. I agree." Said Xander, keeping his tone light.

Drusilla. Was there a single memory about her not filled with pain? Hm. Nope, not a one.

She'd killed Kendra, the other Slayer. She was Spike's old girlfriend. She was Angel's biggest failure. Yeah, big major evil back in town.

"So Dru's back." Said Xander, trying to sum all his thoughts up as quickly as possible.

"I didn't think so last night. I was just exploring the connection between human magical abilities and the way a vampire uses them."

"Oh. Like the girl with Chun." Xander reasoned

"Exactly. However, I have unearthed several dangerous portents that seem to indicate that Drusilla will indeed return."

"Oh." Said Xander blankly. "Then, I guess we tell Buffy anyway, huh?"

"Well, it looks as though we'll have to." Said Giles sadly.

*****************

Spike shuffled into the 'hideout' morosely, fixing Willow with a glare. "Stop beating Jonathan up." He said sharply.

Jonathan and Faith exchanged a glance. "You're not getting, uh, visions, are you?" Asked Jonathan.

"No." Said Spike, exasperated. "But what have I had to yell at her for every other night I come in? I'm starting to feel like a bloody baby- sitter!"

Faith and Jonathan exchanged another glance. "He fought with Buffy." Concluded Faith.

"Nope. No way." Said Jonathan confidently. "He fought with Angel."

Faith sighed. "Jonny, Jonny, Jonny. When he fights with Angel he gets happy, not mad. Pay attention."

"Not when they fight about Buffy." Countered Jonathan. "Then he just gets all broody about how he's not good enough for her."

"Shut up!" Shot Spike, settling into a chair with quick, jerking, moody movements.

"Told you." Said Jonathan smugly.

"We didn't fight about Buffy." Growled Spike.

"Oh. But you fought with him, not with Buffy?"

Spike ignored him. "He accused me of stalking her again. Me! I'm not stalking her! I'm not lurking, or watching, or sneaking into her house to sniff her underwear!" Jonathan choked. "I'm going over to her house for dinner! I am not stalking her!"

Jonathan nodded desperately. "Right. Totally non-stalking." He glanced at Faith. "And it was a fight with Angel." He added smugly.

Willow sat in the corner watching them, her eyes dark. Spike slowly turned facing her, and she glanced at him.

His face was twisted into game-face. Distorted. A tight, sharp mask of anger and hatred. She pulled back, breaking eye contact.

"You can pretend not to care." He said suddenly, the mask of death receding from his face. "But we all know you do. You're stuck, aren't you? Not enjoying being the villain of the piece. But not knowing how to be good again. Forevermore not the person you were. Forever just something else."

"Something worse." She spat, still not looking at him. Spike frowned, looking into his lap.

"Don't have to be." Said Faith non-committally. "You could try being something different."

Jonathan nodded, then stopped when he realized Willow couldn't see him nodding with her eyes squeezed closed. "When you can't be what you were, and you can't be what you are, you just need to find something else you can be." He quickly said.

Faith slapped the back of his head, making him stumble. "That's what I said." She growled. "Don't you have any original advice?"

"Hey! I, uh, rephrased!" Said Jonathan, rubbing the back of his head. "Strategically."

Spike looked around. "I hate this dump." He moaned. "Why are we living underneath a school, of all places? Footsteps in the daytime, a time when all good little vampires should be asleep. . ."

"Running water, plumbing." Said Jonathan.

"Besides, since Buffy quit her old job and got one here to be closer to Dawn. . ." Faith trailed off. "Maybe that's what Angel meant by stalking." She mused.

"Hey! First off, he doesn't know, okay? Second off, this is not stalking! This is just being close so if something goes down on the Hellmouth-hello! Hellmouth!-we can be right here for the Slayer, okay? Backup. That's what we are. Backup."

*********************

Buffy trudged into the Magic Box with a yawn. She looked around. She frowned.

"Hello?" She called.

Silence was her only answer. The place was as deserted as a desert on the hottest day of the year. Which was unusual for several reasons. First of all, Anya hated it when the shop was left without someone to watch customers. Second of all, Giles practically lived there in the daytime. And third, Xander had taken to spending all of his non-work time there, to be closer to Anya.

And none of the three seemed to be in just them.

She looked around, then sat down. She opened her purse up and pulled out the rolled up newspaper, and flipped it open.

At that moment Giles returned, his arms overloaded with scrolls and old books. He came to a halt in the doorway. "Good heavens." He said in a faint voice. "Buffy, are you reading a newspaper?"

"There's an article on the front page about the killings in the past few days." Said Buffy. "What? I can read, you know. I made it through high school."

"Barely." He replied dryly. "I was there at the Graduation; I know."

She rolled her eyes. "Right. The reporter keeps harping on this pattern thing-he's got a map of the city and everything. I think he's on to something."

"Erm." Giles placed his scrolls carefully on the table in front of her. He leaned forward, examining the map. "Yes, I see. Very good, Buffy. Very good."

She blushed. "Thanks." She said quickly. "So, what's all this?"

"Well, Xander Anya and I stayed up last night researching, and-"

"You mean you researched while they made out, right?" Asked Buffy. Giles frowned.

"Well, yes. Anyway, I found some things. Mostly bad things, I'm afraid."

"Oh." Said Buffy blankly. "Incoming apocalypse's? Danger? Destruction?"

"Drusilla."

Buffy's face hardened. "Oh. Worse. Right."

Giles swallowed. "I'm not certain she's back yet, but the prophecies I was reading indicated that after the 'fiery fists' came here she would make her 'bloody return.' Roughly."

"The Wizard." Said Buffy bleakly. "We have anything?"

"So far?" Giles took the paper from Buffy, staring at the map. "Look closer at the pattern of the killings." Advised Giles. Buffy glanced back at the paper, taking it back from Giles.

"It's an S." She said blankly.

"Now, can you think of anybody who Drusilla might be. . .displeased with? With an S in their names?" Asked Giles gently.

"I get it, Giles, I get it." Said Buffy harshly. She took a deep breath. "Sorry. This is just. . ."

"I know." Replied Giles. "This isn't going to be easy. Not for us. . .less so for Angel and Spike, I imagine."

"Should we tell them?" Asked Buffy. "I mean, we're talking about Drusilla. Should we? Or should we just kill her and then tell them."

"I'm afraid we may need their help." Said Giles, removing his glasses and beginning to clean them.

*******************

Angel settled sullenly into the chair, glancing around the dark room around him.

He was staying in the old mansion. It was a wreck, and he had to chase vampires away every time he came home. But it was still home.

Sort of.

Except that he had noticed lately that home was the place where when he was hungry, Cordelia heated some blood up for him. Home was the place where he could watch Cordelia while he sat at his desk and did that bloody paperwork.

Home was not a place where he had to patrol with Spike every night.

He could live with it, deal with it. As long as there was a chance he could find Cordelia.

But lately that little voice had begun speaking again. The little voice in the back of his head that told him he was being stupid.

He was a vampire. A monster. He had never deserved happiness. He'd come very close with Buffy. And he'd made himself leave. Maybe he'd been too close to Cordelia. Maybe that's why she'd left. Maybe she'd realized what he felt and decided it was time to leave.

Maybe he was supposed to be alone.

The worst part was when he started agreeing with the small voice. Then he would just sit there and ache.

*********************

"It's killing him." Said Cordelia.

Whistler nodded. "He's never been very good with the whole emotional health thing."

"I love him." Said Cordelia, a hard undertone to her voice. "I can't just watch while he. . ."

Whistler shrugged. "I know." He said, and there was an edge of weariness to his voice. "But what could you do? There's nothing we can do."

"Yes there is." Said Cordelia flatly.

********************

The Wizard twisted on his sheets uncomfortably. "I need to get out of this town." He muttered, glancing at the clock.

"She's going to kill you." Observed his partner from the door. The Wizard glanced up at him.

"Shut up, Rayne." He snapped. He rolled out of the bed, revealing long thin scars on his back.

"Look, we could still take the Key, convert it back to a movable form, and- "

"You imbecile." Spat the Wizard, pulling a coat on. "She's a girl. Not a Key, a girl."

"Then why are you still here?" Asked Ethan, tilting his head coldly.

"Because..." The Wizard trailed off, glaring at Ethan. "You know very well why I'm staying here."

"Because you want the Slayer's protection from the Bottocelli's." Said Ethan. "Oh, and thanks awfully for doing that, by the way. My life was just PEACHY without having one the Families mad at me!"

"Hey!" Yelled the Wizard. "They sent me into a trap blind! They double- crossed us, not the other way around! They didn't send us to go find some Key! They sent us after the Slayer's sister! You think they didn't know? Oh, they knew! They did this on purpose! Why? Not to get me! To get you! You've screwed up once to often, Ethan, and now they want to get rid of you!" For a second the air rang with his yells.

"If we succeed we're redeemed in their eyes." Noted Ethan coolly.

"If we succeed the Slayer will hunt us down and kill us." Noted the Wizard, just as coldly. "I think that for now our best option is stay here and keep our eyes open."

"Ally ourselves with the Slayer?" Offered Ethan.

"Don't be stupid. She knows what I am. She knows better than to trust me." Said the Wizard. "And don't underestimate me, Ethan Rayne. You may have some skill at magic, but I have survived more than a century through my mastery of magic. Never make a mistake and think you are the senior partner here. And never think I let my guard down for a minute around you."

*******

Well, there you go. This was put in specifically for a starved fan-sorry, but it's just been a crazy semester. This may have to hold you for another three, four weeks.