After managing to disentangle himself from Drusilla by hinting that she should go check on the preparations, Spike strolled into the bunker. He immediately went over to the cage.
Lily scooted over to him, her breasts popping free again from her torn dress. She ignored them, snarling at her lover, "Did you enjoy that?" She didn't really blame him; she just hated this situation.
The look in Spike's eyes made her immediately remorseful. Sliding one hand through the cage, she touched his cheek. Spike leaned forward and their lips touched through the bars.
"Euuu, do you *have* to do that in front of me?" Buffy cried.
Ignoring the Slayer's indignation, Spike and Lily kissed deeply. Slowly Lily pulled back, running her hand down his face to his throat, gently caressing.
"It's the last time," she proclaimed softly. "The last time I'll let her have you."
Spike's eyes were solemn as he slipped out of his shirt and handed it to her, leaving him in a black t-shirt. Smiling slightly, Lily slipped it on. It barely buttoned over her breasts.
"Are you all right?" he asked softly. "Did I get here in time?"
She couldn't help smiling more at his concern and her heart melted. "I'm fine. Your timing was impeccable, luv."
"What did you do to piss Dru off?"
"Oh, asked her if, during your endless romps in her bed, you ever said you loved her. She didn't take it well," Lily said lightly with a grin.
Spike grinned back. "You are wicked."
Leaning forward, Lily kissed him again.
Finally, Spike pulled back with regret. "I need to find out just what is going to happen in three hours. I'll be back if I can." With one final caress of Lily's cheek, he turned and headed for the door.
"Oh, that was all very helpful," Buffy snarled sarcastically. "We're both stuck in this stupid cage. Angel's chained to a wall. The loony and your lover are setting up the ritual to reverse time. Could anything else go wrong?"
"Oh, probably," Lily replied, watching the door swing shut behind her lover.
"Fuck."
*****
After a couple of hours of brooding interspersed with ideas and plans and rejection of said ideas and plans, Lily sat in one corner of the cage, hugging herself and Spike's shirt. Buffy sat facing Angel, her hands gripping the bars of the cage. He wouldn't talk to her about anything personal. Something was very wrong.
Angel was dozing, much weaker than Lily from lack of food and recent torture.
Drusilla swept into the bunker with a crash of the door, jarring Angel awake. She sailed over to him and rubbed up against him. "Um, just a few hours and I can have my daddy's luscious body again."
"It will never happen, Drusilla," Angel said softly.
She just smirked. "It's already happened, daddy." She pressed her pelvis against his groin and smiled sweetly. "Ummmm, see?"
"A physical response," he muttered, silently cursing his uncontrollable body.
"Will *she* see it as such?" Reaching up, she ran a fingernail down his flinching cheek, slitting it open. Sucking the blood from her finger, Drusilla then leaned up and licked the wound. "You belong to me, my Angel. Forty years with you and one hundred without...you have so much to make up for."
"You can punish me for what my demon did to you, Dru, but will it really make you feel better?"
As Drusilla pondered his softly asked question, her eyebrows drew together and she began to pout. "It has to. Something has to..."
She drifted away from him, rubbing her forehead. "Why do I always have to ache? Why am I always punished?"
"I know why," Buffy muttered. Lily grabbed her and with a shake of her head silenced the Slayer.
Hearing her, Drusilla looked over at the cage, eager for answers. "Really? You know why I'm bad? Please tell me, please." As she neared the cage, an avid look came into her eyes. "I'll give you to Angel before we turn you. You can have one moment of love, before your heart goes dead."
"Umm," Buffy began, baffled.
"She doesn't know anything, Drusilla," Lily said.
Distracted, Drusilla turned to Lily and Lily nearly winced at the insanity in the vampire's eyes. "Do you know why I'm always punished? Why I always lose?"
Lily just shook her head.
The eagerness on Drusilla's face turned to violent anger. "Then everybody gets punished," she screamed. "Forever and ever and ever. You rot in Hell. The Slayer becomes eternal food. Daddy gets chained to my bed. Spike spends eternity with his head between my legs. If I have to be unhappy, everybody has to be unhappy with me."
She turned to the guards who were watching their mistress's tirade with little interest--it was all too familiar. "Bring them all. If any of them get away, you all die."
Turning on her heel, Drusilla stormed out of the bunker as the guards approached.
"Oh, good, now you pissed her off," Buffy muttered.
Lily shrugged. "It doesn't seem to take much."
"She can't win. She can't."
The cage door opened and grasping hands reached inside.
As she was dragged from the cage, Buffy kicked and struggled until the guard slammed his fist into the side of her head, sending her flying to the floor, dazed. Picking her up, he slung her over his shoulder and headed outside.
Lily slid from the cage and sighed as a burly male grabbed each arm. She wasn't planning to fight them. As they hurried her out of the bunker, she saw two other male vampires releasing Angel from the manacles.
It was a cool night, but clear. The stars shown bright in the sky and the moon...the crescent moon hung above their heads. Lily looked up at it and stumbled over a tree root as the vampires dragged her through the woods.
Through the trees ahead she could see the flickering of candles and torches. Suddenly they broke through the trees into a well lit clearing. Two posts with manacles attached stood on opposite sides of the clearing. Drusilla stood between the two, watching as the scholarly vampire outlined a pentagram around her in the hard dirt. Torches thrust into the ground at intervals lit the area, while black candles surrounded the pentagram.
Spike sat on a stump, watching it all.
Drusilla looked at Lily, then Spike, then went over to him. "Take your whore, undress her and chain her to that post," she ordered, pointing to the post on the far side of the clearing.
Spike frowned, but rose to his feet and strolled over to Lily. At his approach, the guards released her and she stood still, clenching her hands into her skirt.
Stopping in front of her, Spike gave her a sorrow-filled look. Lily returned it with all the love she felt. This would work out, somehow. She wasn't quite sure how, but...
His hands unbuttoned the shirt and slid it off her, then caught the straps of the dress and pulled them down. The dress pooled around her ankles and Lily stepped out of it, unashamed of her nudity.
As his fingers slid into the sides of her thong, Lily smiled. "I love you, William," she said softly.
Eyes glittering with emotion, he sensuously pulled the thong down her long legs, helping her step out of it. With a quick grin, he stuffed the thong in the back pocket of his jeans.
Taking his hand in hers, Lily led the way across the clearing. As they passed Drusilla, Lily couldn't help giving the fuming vampire a look of triumph.
Drusilla spun and snapped at the vampires holding Angel. "Chain daddy to the other post. Do it quickly. Make it hurt."
Reaching the post, Lily turned and backed against it, wincing slightly at the rough wood against her still slightly tender back. Spike raised the hand he held and placed a tender kiss on the palm, then clamped one manacle around it.
Lily caressed his cheek with her free hand, then lifted it towards the other manacle. He chained it as well, putting both her hands at the level of her head.
Leaning forward, Spike kissed her tenderly, parting her lips for the caress of his tongue. "I love you too, Lily, for all eternity." With a smile, he turned and found Drusilla glowering at him.
Grabbing his arm, Drusilla dragged Spike over to where two vampires were struggling with the Slayer. Drusilla grabbed Buffy and flung her to the ground hard, forcing the air out of her. With an angry snarl, Drusilla kicked the Slayer hard in the side, causing her to whimper and curl into a ball.
"Drusilla," Angel yelled in anger.
"I won't stop. I won't." She kicked again, catching Buffy in the small of the back. "I'm the queen. I'm the queen, the dark goddess. Me, not the whore," she screamed.
Before she could kick the half-conscious Slayer again, Spike caught Drusilla and pulled her into his arms. "Alright, Drusilla. You're the queen, the dark goddess. Stop acting like a petulant child."
Her lower lip stuck out, but she closed her mouth, frowning at Spike. "You still want *her*," she hissed. "Even though she's going to die in less than an hour, you want her, not me."
Spike rubbed her shaking shoulders, trying to calm Drusilla down. "It won't matter in an hour, will it pet?"
Drusilla shook her head and yanked herself away from him. "You're in charge of the little Slayer. If she gets away, you'll die." She strolled over to Angel and slapped him across the face. "Bad daddy, defending the nasty Slayer. This is my party. Everyone does what I say."
Angel growled from deep in his chest and tugged on the manacles chaining him to the post. Drusilla ran her fingers lightly over his chest, then clawed into the half-healed wound. He howled in pain, panting airlessly. Licking her lips, she smiled in delight.
Buffy whimpered and clutched her back. As Spike helped her stand, her legs trembled, then gave out. He caught her and lifted her into his arms. The Slayer's face was white and her lips were pinched from pain.
Drusilla had kicked her a lot harder than Spike had thought. Sitting down on the stump, he cradled the wounded girl who never made a sound as he jarred her. "Can you feel your legs?" he asked softly.
Buffy nodded, biting back her cry of pain as his fingers probed the small of her back.
"Hurts?"
"Yes," she hissed.
Spike smiled grimly. "Good, then she didn't injure your spinal cord."
"She's loony," Buffy whispered harshly.
"Really?" he replied sarcastically.
Another cry came from Angel and Buffy tried to twist her torso to see, then whimpered at the pain and collapsed against Spike. "What's she doing to him?"
Spike glanced over her shoulder and winced in sympathy as Drusilla shredded Angel's chest with her fingernails. "Oh, nothing."
"Liar," Buffy sobbed helplessly. "This plan of yours sucks, Spike," she hissed, panting against the pain.
He gave her a petulant look. "Just hope we all come out of this alive."
"So, are we just supposed to hope that the spell will screw up?" she asked, amazed. Spike shrugged his shoulders and she rolled her eyes. "Brilliant plan."
Spike growled, "Saving the world is all new for me, pet. Give me a fucking break."
"Oh, I'll give you a fucking break..." Buffy's tirade was cut off by Spike's hand clamping over her mouth.
Lifting his gaze, Spike looked around the clearing. Drusilla was tormenting Angel. Dalton was still puttering in the dirt, occasionally glancing in a book. Six husky former football player type vampires were lurking around. When one began to sidle over to Lily, Spike growled loudly. The male stopped and hurried back to the cluster.
"Wankers," Spike muttered under his breath.
"My white knight," Lily quipped. Her post was about six feet from where he and the Slayer sat. Spike looked up at her and his mouth went dry at the sight of her white, naked body gleaming in the moonlight. He could understand the temptation she posed.
He wanted to dump the Slayer off his lap and walk over and impale his dark goddess on his growing erection.
Buffy's eyes went wide as something hard poked her in the leg, then she made a face as she realized what it was. "Euuuuu."
"Virgins," Spike sighed and concentrated on willing his erection away.
"Let me go, you pervert," Buffy whined softly, trying to squirm and whimpering at the pain any movement created.
"Don't worry," he replied snidely. "You're not the one arousing me...although you are kind of sexy."
"You are so disgusting."
"And if this doesn't work, you get to be my pet Slayer turned vampire with a soul. Since Drusilla's going to be working out one hundred years of lust on your precious Angel, we're going to have a lot of time on our hands."
Buffy gave him a horrified look. "I wouldn't touch you with a ten foot pole."
Spike gave her a wicked grin. "It's not quite that long..."
"Euuuuu."
He chuckled. It was so easy to get a rise out of her.
"Spike," Lily murmured. He glanced up again, concentrating on her face. "Something's about to happen." He saw her nod towards Drusilla and Angel. Following the direction of her gaze, he saw Dalton walking towards his former lover and his sire, carrying a silver bowl.
"Mistress?" the little vampire asked obsequiously. "Here's the bowl to catch his blood."
Taking the bowl from him, Drusilla patted him on the head, then turned back to Angel. "This may hurt," she murmured. "I hope it hurts." Lifting her head, she bit the crook of one of his arms, severing the vein.
As his blood began to flow, Drusilla lifted the bowl and caught the purplish-red liquid. Angel moaned and closed his eyes.
"It's a little off-color, mistress," Dalton said hesitantly.
"Doesn't matter. Just needs to be Sire's blood."
"We'll need about two pints."
Drusilla narrowed her eyes. Angel wouldn't die from the loss of two pints, but he wouldn't have the energy to help her celebrate. Looking over at the huddle of male vampires, she whistled. "Hey, boys." They looked up warily, never knowing what their insane mistress might want. "Two of you, go fetch two live pretties, so daddy can eat."
Two of the vampires disappeared into the woods. Looking up, Drusilla saw that Angel's hard, dark eyes were glaring at her. She shivered slightly, wondering vaguely what might happen if daddy lost his soul or lost control of his demon.
He'd probably kill her for this. He'd rip her open and watch her bleed to death. Or he'd whip her until he cut her body in half. Or he'd throw her to the boys and let them tear her apart.
Part of her almost wished for that to happen, but then, a part of Drusilla always wanted to die.
Perhaps in death, the voices screaming inside her would finally fall silent.
"I wonder what she needs his blood for?" Spike murmured.
Buffy tried to twist again to see what was going on and ended up panting harshly against Spike's chest. "Huh, what, OW."
"Stop that, pet. Let yourself heal. It's only half two."
Buffy gave Spike a suspicious look. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
Spike gave her a look of surprise. He hadn't realized...Just what the Hell was he doing? "Fuck if I know," he muttered.
"I had visions of being chained, naked and marked with runes written in blood," Lily said softly.
"Sire's blood?" Spike wondered.
"She'll kill him," Buffy protested.
Spike scoffed at that. "The last thing she wants is her precious daddy to die. She can't torture him once he's dead."
"What about last Fall?"
"Last Fall, she just wanted to live," he explained. "Don't try to understand her."
Buffy glowered up at him. "She's nuts."
"Yeah, well, who do you think is responsible for that?" he replied caustically.
"Will you two cut it out," Lily hissed.
"What's the point of life if you can't bicker with your mortal enemy?" Buffy shot Lily's direction.
"Have to agree with her there, luv."
Lily sighed and shifted uncomfortably against the post. One of the remaining vampires was leering at her and she bared her fangs at him. He wasn't impressed.
Across the clearing, Drusilla bit Angel's other arm and drained it of blood, filling the bowl. As the blood slowed to a trickle, she gestured Dalton away with the bowl, then slid her arms around Angel's neck. His head hung weakly against his chest and he was extremely pale.
"Daddy hungry?" she asked sweetly.
Angel moaned. "Won't work, Dru. I won't kill."
Drusilla sighed and lifted his chin. "You don't need to kill. I'll kill them. You just need to eat."
As he looked at his insane child, Angel's eyes glazed over and fell shut. Slumping in the manacles, his shoulders popped out of their sockets again and he howled. Shrugging, Drusilla stepped back and looked at him.
Buffy tried to scramble off Spike's lap, desperately needing to get to Angel. Ignoring her pain, she managed to turn around, but Spike pinned her to his body, hissing in her ear, "You go to his rescue, if you can even walk by the way, and she'll kill you."
At the sight of Angel, possibly unconscious, his shoulders obviously injured, Buffy began to cry silently and snapped bitterly, "That would spoil your plans."
"She kills you, I turn you before the last breath exits your body," Spike replied harshly.
"Nooo," Buffy moaned.
"Then, if you don't want to be a vampire, which I don't understand at all by the way--you'd be with your precious Angel forever, sappy souls and all--shut up and wait."
Growling, she snapped, "Fuck you."
"Not now, luv." He grinned as the Slayer squirmed some more. She was quite enchanting.
"Having fun, lover?" Lily asked him.
"Not as much as I'd have with you, my sweet."
Buffy started to claw at him which Spike grew tired of very quickly. Tossing her off his lap onto her back, he knelt, straddling her hips and sitting on her legs, pinning both her hands beneath his thighs.
"Bastard, let me up!"
"Shut up."
Turning his attention from the squirming Slayer, Spike looked up to see Dalton using some of the blood to outline the pentagram he had drawn earlier in the hard dirt.
Blood spells. They were always nasty.
Looking up past the tree tops, he saw that the crescent moon was shining down on the pentagram, highlighting the symbols being painted in blood. For about the thousandth time, Spike wondered what the spell would actually do.
Drusilla talked about ruling the world, but just how was she going to accomplish that?
And, did she even know?
Pouting at her unconscious Sire, Drusilla turned and cocked her head at the sight of Spike straddling the Slayer. She strolled over to him and bent down. "What are you doing, my Spike?"
"Um, keeping her here."
"Oh...good." Patting his head, she straightened up and made her way over to Lily. Running her eyes over Lily's nudity, she shook her head. "I don't understand why you want *this*, Spike. She's not at all pretty. Not like me. Not like princess."
"Of course not, princess," he replied automatically in a soothing voice. "Males are ruled by their cocks, my sweet, you know that."
"Nasty things." The female vampire shuddered delicately.
Lily's eyes narrowed. "Nasty? You seem to be making good use of his."
Drusilla grinned. "Jealous, bitch?"
Lily shook her head and her lips curved into a smile. "Of you? You're a child, Drusilla. And more, you're a frightened child."
Snarling, Drusilla lashed out, slapping Lily hard, making her head ring from the blow. Slowly Lily looked back at the female vampire who glowered and stomped her feet as her shoulders heaved in anger. Lily smiled again. "And you just proved my point."
"Don't care," Drusilla replied furiously. "You're going to die and it won't matter anymore."
"Oh, it will matter, Drusilla. Do you want to know why?"
Crossing her arms across her chest, Drusilla gave her a pouty look, then nodded.
"Because he will never love you again. I may die, but Spike will always love me." Lily didn't brag, wasn't harsh or mean. She simply told the truth.
Drusilla's shoulders drooped and her lower lip trembled. "Why?" she asked in a voice full of pain.
"I don't know."
Slowly, Drusilla drew herself back up, straightening her spine and fixing a solemn look on her face. "It will have to do. I won't live without him."
"Neither will I," Lily promised softly.
Nodding in understanding, Drusilla turned and walked over to supervise the final touches on the pentagram.
"Luv, that was very risky," Spike said over his shoulder softly.
"I can't help feeling sorry for her."
Buffy snorted in shocked disgust and Lily continued. "For the child whom Angelus destroyed. She's trapped in there."
"This isn't Angel's fault," Buffy protested.
"Not the Angel you know, Buffy. The Angelus I knew destroyed an innocent girl and turned her into that creature. I feel sorry for that innocent girl," Lily explained.
Buffy shook her head, finally giving up on trying to free herself from Spike. "There's nothing of that girl left."
"You're wrong," Spike said softly. "She's always been there trying desperately to die. I've fought for one hundred and forty years to prevent that."
"And now?" Lily asked hesitantly.
"What happens, happens," he replied sadly.
"You can get off me now," Buffy said. "I won't try to get away."
Spike gave her a skeptical look, then rose to his feet and pulled her up with him. Buffy stumbled, moaning at the pain in her entire body, then slumped down on the stump, her eyes finding Angel. He appeared to be still unconscious.
Clasping her hands together, the girl began to pray.
Trusting the Slayer to stay put, Spike walked over to Lily. She was looking at the moon. At his approach, their eyes met and held.
"I've been alive for nearly three and a half centuries," she said in a quiet voice. "If you had asked me a month ago, I would have said I was ready to die. I would never actively seek death, but..."
"Now?" he asked, his hand going up to clasp one of hers.
Lily smiled. "How can I die and leave you behind? It's not a nice thing, being left behind. It happened to me."
"Who?"
Lily had to chuckle at that. When together, they had rarely talked. "There's so much we don't know about each other, Spike. The same night I was turned, my husband, my watcher, was killed by vampires. I loved him," she added sadly. "And I never loved again...until you."
Spike gave her a hesitant smile. "Really? Three and a half centuries?"
"I was a Slayer, pure and simple. I existed to destroy...until you came along." She flashed him a hint of a wicked look. "Of course, I intended to kill you, too. I just didn't have a stake, so I decided to rip off your head. That's when you pulled me onto your lap and bit me the first time. You sealed both our fates with that one act, my love. Do you regret it?"
Spike's eyes blazed into hers. "I don't regret one instant of our time together," he replied in a husky voice.
A tear leaked out of one of Lily's eyes and he leaned forward to capture it with his lips.
End Chapter 20