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“Stupid, isn’t she? Middle of the night. Alone. Headphones. Hellmouth. Easy.”<br />
“But-” Xander was cut off when Spike stopped abruptly, grabbed him by the<br />
shoulders and pulled them together.<br />
“Listen to me very carefully. You don’t have control over this. Not this. Not me. Do<br />
you understand?” Xander nodded slowly. “Okay. Now here are your choices. You<br />
can shut the fuck up, let me do this without the bloody commentary. Or you can<br />
help.”<br />
“Help? Isn’t there a third option? I’ll go back to the factory now. Like you first<br />
suggested.”<br />
“You lost that option when you got on my nerves.”<br />
“But-”<br />
“Bollocks! Where is she?”<br />
Relief poured through Xander. But before he could congratulate himself on his<br />
stalling abilities, Spike gripped his hand, and he was being pulled violently down<br />
the sidewalk. They caught up with the woman quickly when they rounded a corner<br />
and saw her turn onto the walk of a large well-appointed red brick house with a<br />
yard filled with tall leafless oak trees.<br />
“Better make up your mind, Xander. No halfways.” Spike told him just before they<br />
reached her. He put a strong arm around her shoulders, causing a small shriek to<br />
escape her lips.<br />
The next part happened too quickly for Xander to process, however he felt a strange<br />
deja-vu of his first encounter with Spike as he watched the vampire drag the woman<br />
into the side yard of her own house.<br />
By the time he followed them there, Spike was leaning against a brick wall that was<br />
green with moss. Clearly this side of the house got very little sun. The woman (who<br />
was, now that Xander could see her face, actually just a girl, no more than eighteen)<br />
was being held tight against Spike, her back to his chest, one arm around her waist,
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