Buffy slammed her locker as she heard the last bell ring that ended another day of school. She looked at the clock and then at her friends who were trudging slowly up the hall towards her. "Are we are detention bound." Buffy asked and pointed towards the clock.

"Attention, Students!" Came a voice over the loud speaker. "This is Principal Snyder. I've never had to remind students who had detention that they had better show up this way but the group who has it today has the attention span of flies. Buffy Summers, Xander Harris, Cordelia Chase, Willow Rosenberg and Oz who is too cool for a last name. Your punishment awaits." the speaker crackled at he turned it off.

"Okay," Xander looked around at their classmates who were laughing at them. "I think he has a lot of sexual tension and could use a trip down Ventura Blvd."

"What's on Ventura Blvd?" Willow asked still looking at all the kids who were laughing and pointing.

"Hookers, Willow." Cordelia slammed her locker. "People who dress like Buffy for a reason."

"HEY!" Buffy opened her mouth and then slowly followed her friends.

Principal Snyder was standing at the door of Mr. Mosley's room with his arms crossed. He sniffed his nose as the Scooby Gang filed in .. as if he was sniffing out the bad crowd. The group took their seats and looked up at the board. He had left his orders for them on the board. They were to write a thousand word essay on 'Why it pays to have respect.' before they could leave. Buffy sighed and pulled out her notebook.

Snyder glanced at his watch and swore. "Where is Mr. Giles?" he shouted.

"Here I am." Giles said and came in through an adjoining door which led to the art room. "Sorry. I was picking up some late books."

"Yes, I envy the work you do." Said Snyder and then he pointed at the board. "No one leaves until it's done. And you.."he pointed to Giles. "You make sure that everyone of those essays is a prize winner."

He walked out and slammed the door. Ever so quietly, he stuck the key into the lock and turned it. He walked down to the other door that opened into it and locked it too. Then for good measure, he locked the art room doors.

Willow coughed about ten minutes later. She cleared her throat and coughed some more. Oz patted her on the back. "You okay?" he said. Talking made him cough too. He glanced around and as if on cue, the others began to cough.

Buffy felt like her throat had been scratched on the inside with sandpaper. She pounded on her chest and glanced around. She saw a thin viel of smoke dancing through the air conditioning duct. It was a purplish smoke that was almost invisible. Almost. "Guys," she hacked. "Look!" she pointed at it and Giles jumped up.

"We have to get out of here." He ran for the door but it was locked. "Buffy try the other one."

"Buffy ran to the door at the back of the class. "No good. It's locked too."

Xander and Oz ran for the windows but they too appeared to be locked and NOT on the inside. "Dammit!" Oz yelled.

Cordelia jumped up and opened the adjoining door that Giles had come through. "Guys, come on!"

They all ran into the art room and slammed the door. Willow ran for the doors but squealed out because they were locked too. "What are we going to do!?"

Buffy's eyes began to water and she ran to the windows in the art room. She found one that was cracked and rammed her fist through it. Yelping a little as the glass sliced through her flesh. In a matter of seconds she had knocked out all the wood and glass. "Come on, guys!" she yelled.

"We are on the third floor!" Cordelia whined.

"Yeah and there is a ledge so stand on it and I'll jump and run for help." Buffy pulled Willow to the window. "Ladies first."

"I'm a lady!" Cordelia yelled.

"Not since about the seventh grade." Buffy replied and hoisted Willow out on the ledge. She leaned out and let Willow use her to get her balance. Willow stood up very slowly and pressed her back against the wall. Cordelia was next. She whimpered and moaned the whole time and Buffy thought about knocking her off. It *was* only about thirty feet. Oz was next, followed by Xander. Buffy watched and made sure they all had their footing and then she looked at Giles. "Come on." She motioned him.

He coughed and looked at her. "You first, Buffy. As your Watcher..."

Buffy was up on the window sill and she leaned and hoisted him up and helped him out the window. "As your Slayer, I say go."

She made sure Giles was upright and balanced and then she stepped out onto the ledge. "Okay..the plan is..not to move around a lot and I'll be right back." She took a deep breath and jumped. Landing on her feet. No normal girl could have done that. But Buffy defied normal.

"So..are we thinking Snyder?" Buffy asked and cringed as Willow bumped into her bandaged hand. "Ahh..Willow. You want me to get even more stitches?"

Willow sat gently beside Buffy on Giles's sofa and said, "I'm sorry. Is it very painful?"

"Not until a few seconds ago." Buffy griped.

Willow started to say something else but Giles silenced her. "Snyder is a possibility. He has been on your case from the beginning and I highly doubt that it is all a coincidence that each of us were chosen to be in that room. But that certainly begs the question..Why?"

"Why?" Xander walked into the living room with a glass of orange juice and glanced at each of them. "I'll tell you why. Because he needs a good woman."

"So do you." Willow said under her breath. Buffy grinned at her and nudged her with a shoulder.

"This is serious, Xander. Sex isn't the answer for everything." Cordelia slumped back into the chair she was in and added. "I can't even get detention without you guys causing trouble."

"For the record, Cor..." Xander sat beside her. "Your mouth got us in trouble..and sex is definately the answer to every question I have EVER had."

"Can we concentrate here?" Buffy gave Xander a hard look. "Giles, how do we find out? I mean..having things try to kill me at night is one thing..I HAVE to be able to pass. And if they're coming to school to kill me now..I'll never pull my grades up."

"Well..I will do a little research on Snyder. Possibly a little undercover work.." Giles paced a few feet and started to speak again but Xander cut him short.

"I say..we invite Snyder over to Oz's in a couple of weeks..smear him with steak sauce..and let Oz take a bite out of crime." He smirked then jumped as Cordy smacked him..hard across the arm. "It was just a suggestion."

"I'm going home." Buffy announced. Her hand had held twenty three stitches and it was throbbing like a headache. The doctor had put her arm in a sling and demanded that she not move it around much because of the tender area that the majority of the cuts were in. "I take it I CAN have the night off?"

Giles raised an eyebrow at her and wondered at her ill mood. "Of course you can. You must get some rest and not injure your hand any further. Are..are you okay, Buffy?"

"Couldn't be better." Buffy replied and stood up. "My boyfriend is having post traumatic stress disorder, I have to fight demons at night and now during the day..and when my mother finds out that I had detention and can't explain why..I'm SURE to get grounded. On the whole..I'd say..Life is good."

"Sarcasm WELL noted." Giles walked over and draped Buffy's jacket across her shoulders and then he looked at her closely. "Angel WILL get better and as for this Snyder business..you are taking a small vacation and shouldn't concern yourself with it. I'll look into it and you concentrate on healing."

Buffy nodded and headed out the door saying 'No Thanks' to Oz and Cordelia who both offered to drive her home. She wanted to walk and clear her head. And she wanted to put off the inevitable fight she was bound to have with her mother. Joyce would yell at her first for getting detention and next for not calling her from the hospital. She had lied to the doctors and told them her mom was out of town. She just hadn't wanted to deal with it right then.

She had so many things on her mind. First and foremost was this thing with Angel. She had lied to Willow and the others when she had told them that they had made up. They didn't. Angel thought they did..but he wound up falling asleep in his chair with her still feeling like she needed something more from him. Whistler had come home before she left and done all he could to make her feel useless. She had called to talk to Angel that morning but Whistler growled into the phone that he was asleep at that ungodly hour and not to call back at that time again.

It was dark. Buffy was pretty sure she'd be read the riot act for not calling home before now. She was passing the cemetary when she heard a rustling and turned around to meet the fist that had been aimed with precision at her head. She fell backwards and yanked her sore arm free...without thinking... to brace her fall. Buffy screamed out in pain for the first time she could remember. Her hand connected with the sidewalk and shot a pain through her whole body. It hurt. It hurt worse than anything she had ever felt. She began to cry and clutched the bleeding hand to her chest. She used the other hand to ward off a kick from her attacker and then stumbled to her feet.

It was an old vampire but he fought with experience. He seemed to aim every kick and every blow towards her right hand. He connected a couple of times and Buffy was sure she'd pass out from the pain. The vampire twisted her good arm around behind her and forced her to her knees. She could feel his face only inches away from her neck and began to make her peace with God..death was closing in on her. She closed her eyes and summoned a bit of courage.. then leveled the vampire with her sore fist. He fell backwards as Buffy dropped to her knees..sobbing and screaming at the pain in her hand. The bandage was blood soaked and she could actually feel the stitches snapping from the new swelling.

Buffy scambled back to her feet and began to run away as the old vampire stood. Her face was cold from the tears and she was now limping thanks to the way she had fallen. She could hear him behind her and she screamed again as his hands wrapped into her hair and pulled her off of her feet. The man slammed her onto her back and straddled her. He pulled his lips away from his pointy fangs and said, "I'm going to do you a favor. I'm going to have my way with you BEFORE I kill you..that way.."

"That way," Said Spike before he plugged a stake through the old man. "Will surely buy you a ticket into hell, my friend."

"Spike.." Buffy whimpered. "Please..help me."

"You need a hospital." Spike announced and bent to lift her into his arms. "I bloody hate hospitals."

Buffy put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. She had her wounded hand close to her chest...directly under Spike's nose. He licked his lips as he smelled it. He cursed himself silently wondering why in the hell he didn't just drink her blood and toss her aside. He glanced at her face and wondered if anyone had ever been this beautiful. There had been a time when he thought Druscilla was more beautiful than any woman he had ever seen..but this Slayer..this mortal..was as lovely as a the sunrises he remembered. Her hair was the sun. She began to cry again and Spike picked up his pace. "It's okay, Slayer. Almost there."

Druscilla sat on her bed. She had all sorts of pretty toys laid around her. What fascinated her was a crudely fashioned boy doll that almost looked like a worn out Ken doll. Dru was busy smearing something on the doll and mumbling under her breath. She whimpered out loud and called for one of Spike's men...a tall and lean male by the name of Vincent. "I'm hungry." she whined as she hid the doll. "Where is Spike?"

"He was going to hunt. He left this for you." Vincent handed her a bag of blood.

She looked at the bag as if it were the most offensive thing she'd ever seen. She threw it at Vincent and then flopped onto her stomach to kick and scream. She pounded the bed with her bony fists until the vampire ran out muttering about bringing her dinner. Druscilla sat up and smiled. She got off the bed and walked across the room..dragging the chains that had her bound to a wall with about twenty feet of play. She opened a small box and then returned to the bed and began to annoint the doll with yet more glistening moisture. "You will love her, Spike. You will love that Slayer as I loved you and she will betray you and break you as you did me. No one ever takes anything away from me..not anyone. And you took my daddy. My Angel." She continued to rub the mixture all over the doll and then she topped the doll with tufts of blond hair. She threw her head back and began to chant.

Vincent brought the girl into the the mansion and slapped her hard across the face for the obnoxious moaning and whining he had endured for the last half hour. He wanted to rip her heart out but Dru would have him killed. He dragged her into Dru's bedroom and looked at her pale frame sprawled across the bed. "Dinner is served." He grinned.

"I'm too weak." Dru cried. It was true. The calling of the dark power had left her tired and sick..as it had for the last month that she'd been doing it. Since before Angel was freed from hell.

Vincent dragged the girl to the bed and pushed her down. He made a small pucture wound in her neck and held his hand over her mouth as she began to scream. Druscilla raised onto her elbows and began to drink. She closed her eyes as she felt the girls heart stop pumping the blood. With her mouth covered in the sweet and satisfying wetness, she pulled away and glanced at Vincent. "You take it away. Take her away and hide her well. Spike mustn't know. He can't know that I fed." Vincent looked puzzled and Dru added. "You take care of me..and I will take care of you."

The vampire grinned and threw the corpse over his shoulder. Druscilla watched him go and felt a renewed strength coming back. Her hatred for Spike and what he had done to her was intense. He had weakened her by only feeding her bagged blood. She hated him for keeping her chained here and for keeping her away from Angel. She'd never forgive him for hurting Angel and stealing her away.

She smiled as her fingers played over the doll's face. Spike would fall for the Slayer, follow her like a lovesick dog..and if the Slayer didn't kill him..Angel would. And she knew what happened if a sire killed his child. She hid the box as she heard Vincent approach. "Come on then." She said and opened her arms as he opened the door. "Let me thank you."

TBC

Back to B/A