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.
 

Stomachache

Dawn frowned at the flight manifest again, willing it to be different. "Giles, come here." She ordered. He obediently walked over. "Tell me I'm not seeing things, okay?"

He examined the manifest. "Where did you find this?"

"I was actually trying to find out if the Wizard had skipped town. He said he was going to give me lessons in fighting. He didn't show."

Giles licked his lips uncertainly. "Let's not jump to conclusions. He and Ethan. . .it might have been a coincidence."

"In Sunnydale? Like Spike says, not bloody likely. Where's Buffy?"

"She and Angel and Spike went out searching for the girl." He replied. "Why?"

Dawn wrinkled her nose. "Um, all three of them together? That sounds like a phenomenally bad idea, Giles."

"Their idea." Said Giles resignedly. "With Drusilla in town, they'll need to be out in force. Spike thinks she's more dangerous than we give her credit for."

"I give her plenty credit." Muttered Dawn. "I think she should know this. Tell her when she gets back." She grabbed her backpack.

"You're going out alone?" Asked Giles, surprised. Dawn rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Giles. Don't worry, okay? It's just a few blocks from here. I can run fast, I have a stake, yada yada yada. I'll be fine."

He hesitated. "You're not the Slayer." He observed. "The Slayer is the only one who'll be fine. It's about power, Dawn. They have it. You don't."

"I'll be fine." She repeated, stalking out.

She walked at a brisk pace towards home, paying attention to her surroundings. She felt a bit of numb teenage pain-how unfair was it that Buffy could be safe anywhere, anytime, while she was stuck being the sidekick who always needed saving? Or couldn't walk anywhere without an escort?

But at the same time she knew Giles was right. Buffy had the power. She didn't. Vampires had the power. She didn't.

"Hey!" She half turned, her hand shooting to her waistband where a conveniently-sized stake was kept. She half-relaxed when she saw it was the Wizard.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

He moved closer, into the light, and she froze. His face was a demonic mask, his eyes a feral yellow glowing at her.

"I have a little problem." He confessed.

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

Spike threw himself onto a park bench. "I'm hungry." He complained.

Angel glanced at him, leaning against a tree. "Hungry." He repeated grumpily.

Buffy glanced from one to the other in exasperation. "Can't you two utter one word without making it a fight?" She demanded.

Spike slowly raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no. Why do you ask?"

Buffy sighed. "How come I have to be the mature one?" She whined. "I suck at maturity."

"We're vampires." Growled Angel. He glanced at Buffy. "No growth." He clarified.

"Very funny." She grunted.

Spike smiled. "You made a joke." He said, pointing at Angel. "A sucky one, but it was a joke. A no growth, no maturity joke-high school level or what, mate? But you made a joke. Are you feeling all right?"

"What? Are you making a court case about it? Of course, any decent judge would throw you right out of court with hair like that."

Spike's right eyebrow slowly raised. "Oh, no. You did not. You wouldn't dare. There is no way you, the king of evil and generally bad hair, would make a hair joke. That would crack the space-time continuum or something."

Angel frowned. "What kind of noise would that make? Cause I didn't hear anything. No, I think the king position rightly belongs to you."

"Are you saying my hairs more evil than yours?" Demanded Spike. "Oy!"

Buffy was watching the exchange with a frown. "Okay, Spike's right. I guess we're not going to find Drusilla tonight. Same time tomorrow?" She asked.

"Uh, sure." Said Angel. "Uh, good night." He turned and stalked off into the night.

Buffy watched him go with a frown. Then she looked at Spike, a look of exasperation on her face. "What was that all about?" She demanded.

Spike smiled. "He's starting to snap out of it." He observed. "Starting to live again. Be the old Angel."

"You mean he's not always all serious and broody?"

"Well, he's always broody. But sometimes he can be jokey." Clarified Spike. "I mean, he was Angelus when I knew him, but that's still basically the same person. When he's all serious-like, he's feeling tormented and unloved."

"And he's getting better why, exactly?" Asked Buffy.

"Uh, well, I had a visitation last night." Said Spike.

"A visitation?"

"From the Cheerleader." Clarified Spike.

"Cordy!" Said Buffy. "She's back?"

"No. Think of it as a letter. Or maybe a phone call. But she said hi, thinking of you, be back soon. You know?"

"I have no clue what you're talking about." Said Buffy blankly.

"She sent him a message saying she'd be back soon!" Snapped Spike, smiling. "And that's got him feeling better."

"Oh." Said Buffy. "That's.okay. That's great." She smiled wryly. "Not sure how I feel about my old boyfriend hooking up with Cordy, but, hey!"

"Old boyfriend?" Spike quirked an eyebrow quickly.

"What's up with your eyebrow tonight?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"Tell me, you still feel anything for him?" Asked Spike playfully. "I mean, all that tall dark and broody still work on the ladies?"

"Well, you know." She replied shyly. "You never forget your first."

His face changed slightly. "No, you never do." He replied neutrally. She started, putting a hand to her lips.

"Drusilla?" She asked around her fingers. He chuckled.

"Yeah, of course. Romantic, ey? The first woman in my life and I was true to her for more than a hundred years. Of course, that means I was despicably evil for that time, but, hey, love." He scuffed his boot on the ground.

She nodded. "Right. Love. You coming over for dinner tomorrow?"

"Is that a subject change, or a coy way of injecting the word love into our relationship?" He asked, leaning his chin on his fist and staring into her eyes. She blushed.

"Uh, both?"

"Well, then, of course we're on for dinner. Of course." He smiled. "Of course." He added one more time to make sure she got it.

She smoothed her hands over her hips self-consciously. "Good. Good."

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

Dawn yanked the stake free, staring at him. "All right, back off!" She snarled, before remembering that he would still have his magic. She quickly jumped forward, swinging the stake.

He dodged effortlessly. "I don't think you understand the nature of my problem." He said quickly.

"Vampire bit you?" Quizzed Dawn, swinging at him again. He dodged.

"Yeah, two of them. Really crazy ones. But that's not the problem."

"The problem is?" She swung again.

He grabbed her wrist in midswing, jerking her against him so that they were face to face. "The problem is, I have the power." He growled.

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

Spike was skipping as he headed towards the school, which was decidedly awkward in boots. Still, he was feeling wonderful, and he didn't mind a little awkwardness.

"What rhymes with Buffy." He mused. "Fluffy?"

"Poetry doesn't need to rhyme." Drusilla reminded him.

"Right, of course, thanks." He agreed, continuing to skip for exactly two strides, then stopping dead. "Dru."

Drusilla smiled, fluttering up behind him. "Boo. You never made me rhyme." She pouted.

"Very true, ducks. But that's cause I was evil, and, you know; evil doesn't rhyme." He replied, smiling. "What are you doing back in town, Dru?" He moved closer to her.

Her smile faded. "You and daddy came here. And you were all here, all souled. And it made me unhappy." She pouted and sat down. "So I made another vampire. But he's not like you. Not all effulgent. But he burns."

Spike sat down next to her. "What do you want?"

She looked at him, her eyes filled with tears. "I want my Spike back." She murmured. "I hurt my Spike, and I was bad. Very naughty. But now if he'll come back, I'll be so happy." She smiled faintly. "I love you. You know that. Even evil things like us can love."

"I know that." He replied. "But. . .there's another woman, now. I fell in love with another woman."

"Don't care." She replied. "You can have both of us. You can love her more than me. Just take me back, please."

Spike smiled. "Dru, I'll always have fond memories of you. But I'm not your Spike anymore." He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm a new Spike."

She snarled in pain. "New Spike is dumb, then."

Hands grabbed him from behind. "Oh." He said blankly.

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

The laughing trio exited the Bronze. "It was funny when you said you had a skin condition. Because you don't." Said Anya. Xander chuckled. "Well, it was funny because it wasn't a lie. But it still wasn't true."

Xander, walking between Clem and Anya, stumbled. "Ow!" He cried.

Clem grabbed his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Snapped Xander. "Just stay away from me, okay?!" Then he threw his hands up. "Nope! Better idea! Fight me!"

"Is he drunk?" Asked Anya. "I mean, I didn't think so, but back at the Bronze I went into the bathroom, and he could have -"

"Uh, I don't think so." Said Clem.

Xander started towards Anya, yelling. "You stinking traitor!" He yelled at Anya. "Traitor, traitor! And you! You wrinkled mess!" He swung at Clem.

Clem's arm lashed out, and Xander fell like a sack of bricks. "Oh dear." Said Anya faintly.

"That's not right." Said Clem. "What happened?"

Anya was a little less puzzled. "I think the real question is who happened."

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

The Wizard pushed her away, snatching the stake from her. "Power. I mean, it's what I've fought to get all my life, isn't it? Life being sort of a past tense term at this point. I fought for it! And I won it! I've been alive for a few hundred years!" He touched his face. "God! My face is lumpy. . . and that's my problem. Am I making sense?"

Dawn moved forward, preparing a kick. He moved closer, blocking her before she could stop. "Look, I can't just freeze you or anything-I'm not powerful enough for something like that. Just. Just give me a second. I can explain."

"Then be fast." Said Dawn, stepping back.

"I have this power! The power has kept me alive. A long time." He said slowly. "It's not natural power. When the vampire tried to turn me, it went bad. The demon and the magic all kind of mixed together. And I'll be damned if I know what's going on now! A vampire turning me wasn't in my plans. The spells I've cast. . . So now I've got this Demon hovering around inside my head. He can't really cast me out like he was planning to, and I can't seem to get rid of him."

"When were you turned?" Shot Dawn.

"I don't know. Eh, Monday, I guess."

"It's only Tuesday night. Weren't you supposed to rise in three days?"

"Three days? I don't know! It's all so messed up. Look, I-"

"Who's Ethan Rayne?" Asked Dawn. The Wizard frowned.

"Oh. You found out already."

"Well, duh. Yeah. Of course we did! What do you think? We're pros." Said Dawn, a bit defensively.

"Look, I did all right by you blokes when you were fighting Chun, right?" He asked desperately. "If I don't figure out a way, this Demon could take over my body! Then you have to stake a vampire with my magic. You could help me get rid of the vampire, and never have to worry about it."

"We could stake you now?" Supplied Dawn.

He jammed the stake into his chest. "Sorry, kid. Remember, I'm not actually fully a vampire yet. Just. . .something."

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

Spike lashed out, knocking down the girl behind him. Drusilla grabbed him and he punched her, sending her reeling to the ground. "Sorry, Dru. But what we had is gone. I'm a white hat now, in love with a white hat. You got it?"

"Not really." She hissed. "But I'm starting to catch on. Spike is naughty." She jumped up, lashing out with one clawed hand, shredding his shirt and the flesh under it. He cried out in pain.

Then a steel I-Beam impaled him from behind, slamming through him. He made a gurgling sound, clutching his stomach as the weight of the beam dragged him to the ground.

"You hit me." Said Mary, Chun's girl, petulantly. "I didn't like it. Can we kill him?"

"No." Hissed Drusilla. "He's being naughty. Has another girl." She stooped over him and angrily scratched his face to the bone. "We must punish him. We must kill his girl. His pretty Slayer. With the golden hair."

"The Slayer?" Asked Mary nervously.

Drusilla laughed. "It's not so hard. Spike's done it, and look what we did to him."

"Buffy will eat you alive." He moaned.

"No, Spikie. We'll eat her." Hissed Drusilla. "And she'll be one of us, and she'll help us hurt you."

"No!" He cried, straining to get up against the weight of the I-Beam.

"Yes." Said Dru softly, leaning forward. "Silly William. What did you think I would do?"

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

Giles looked at Xander's prone form, worry etched on his face. "Call Spike and Faith, and Angel too. We're going to need all the help we can get if I'm right about this Demon.

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

A/N: Well? I thought it was touching, myself. As to Xander's mysterious possession-trust me, you'll love what I have planned. How 'bout that Wizard? And look at the way Spike and Angel are progressing. And Spike and Buffy, huh? And I didn't even get to put my favorite Slayer into this episode. Well, don't worry, she owns the next episode. Seriously. Next episode is SHOWDOWN AT THE SUMMERS RESIDENCE. In a big way. High points to look for: Ripper faces Drusilla. Xander is a vampire. And there'll be a M. Night Shyamalan surprise ending!! Trust me, I'm actually going to resolve at least five standing storylines! And open three, but that's okay, right?