The Blood of the Soul

Sticky Situations

A/N: Hey guys, I really hope I didn't confuse anyone with the way I'm melding these worlds together. The original intention was to have Liam be literal Buffy and Theo be literal Spike, but when the opportunity arose to bring Spike into the mix and to sort of play around with the actual Buffy cast (and their "grandkids"), it just seemed too good to pass up. Also, this chapter is a play on the fact that in the Buffy TV series, Xander was kidnapped multiple times by demons that wanted to seduce him.

TW: graphic depictions of violence in fight scenes, semi-graphic depictions of a medical procedure, a very steamy make out session that is *almost* smut but not quite.

Theo

A smug smile spread across Brett's face as Liam lowered the crossbow, and if Theo had even a little less self-control, he might've acted on his impulse to rip the boy's throat out. Liam hadn't mentioned exactly what had gone wrong in their relationship, but the way Liam reacted to him was more than enough to justify Theo's murderous intentions.

"No way he knows where the piece is," Theo said. "If he did, he'd already have it."

Brett shoved past them into the destroyed living room, ignoring Giles and Willow gaping at the destruction of Xander's house, and started flipping furniture right side up.

"What makes you think I don't?"

"Because there's no way you tracked it down in less than 24 hours," Giles said. "We were putting leads together for weeks."

Liam sighed. "I told you both to wait in the car."

"I'm a witch," Willow said, like it was obvious that she could've kicked anyone's ass, and after seeing what she was capable of in the dark storm, Theo believed her.

Liam secured the crossbow between his shoulder blades.

"Why do I even bother?" Liam muttered under his breath.

"Besides, it's just Brett. It's not like he's a threat."

Brett paused to glare at her from where he was collected broken shards of a lamp. "Real, nice, Will."

Liam cleared his throat. "The location, Brett?"

Theo didn't like the way Brett was taking his time answering. He had leverage over them and he knew it.

"It was Francesca."

"That doesn't sound like a place," Giles mused.

"It's not. He doesn't know anything," Theo said. "You should've shot him when you had the chance."

"Don't worry, it won't be the last one I get," Liam muttered under his breath.

"Go ahead, keep threatening my life," Brett declared. "I'll take my information and go!"

"If you want to keep your throat intact, I'd suggest you start talking," Theo snapped, persistent irritation flickering in his gut. "Quickly."

Liam shot him a side eye that he didn't entirely understand. He thought the slayer wanted this punk gone as much as he did.

"Here's the thing," Brett started as he switched the TV off. "To find the piece, we have to find Xander, and I know where he is."

"So you don't know anything," Liam scoffed.

"No, it's true! Demons have like, I don't know, a thing for my grandpa." Theo snickered at Brett's audacity. "I know how it sounds, but he was engaged to a demon, and after that, he's been on their radar enough that every few years, they snatch him. Look at his calendar, it says Francesca – date night right there!"