Ethan screamed until he was hoarse. Finally, he slumped against his bonds in the bed. Then he shook his head, and his eyes grew huge. His head was clear. Once Heidi was far from sight, her aura away from his own, Ethan became free of her thrall. “God damn it, I’m a bloody sorcerer!” He relaxed his arms and concentrated. “Dissolvo.” Ethan whispered, and his bonds loosened and dropped from his wrists and ankles. “Ah, that’s better.” He winced, his muscles sore and stiff. He rubbed at his arms and legs to get the blood flowing again before sitting up and looking for his clothes. It was slow going, but he eventually got himself dressed. He reckoned he had about half an hour to make it to Pine Street. He’d have the element of surprise over Heidi. That made him smile. “Dawn will be mine, and then I’ll have all that I’ll ever need.”

He knew he didn’t have much time. He hastily picked through his things that Heidi had confiscated and found his spell book. One of them, anyway. It would just have to work. He quickly formulated a plan as he kept in the shadows, jogging as quickly as he could to hide behind a tree on Pine Street.

Heidi and Howard were already there, not bothering to conceal themselves. Heidi was too confident and brash for that. She didn’t think she had anything to worry about. Ethan sat down on the cold sidewalk and flipped through the book. “Ah, that one should do it.” He had no time for research. He just had to hope this spell would work. He wanted Heidi to himself, and that Howard guy had to go. Plus, Ethan was supposed to be the one in power, and not Heidi. He knew his brain was a bit foggy, being so close to her again. He shook himself and hastily read through the spell. His ears picked up at the sound of a car and he looked up to gaze down the street. He didn’t notice as the spell book’s pages flipped in the light breeze.

The Suburban slowly came to a stop. The group inside hesitated to get out. Giles, in the driver’s seat, glanced over at Buffy. She was squinting out the windshield. “That’s Heidi, alright. And that must be Howard with her. Where is Ethan?”

Allison craned her neck from the back seat. “Oh.” She sucked in her breath as she saw Howard. He was rumpled, and his eyes were constantly locked on Heidi. Gone was her husband. This was just a shell of his former self. Spike, sitting next to her, wrapped his arm around Allison. “It will be okay, pet. You have my word.”

“Yeah, and your word has worked so well in the past.” Xander muttered, receiving an elbow from Willow. “Hey!” He rubbed at his ribs and glowered.

“It’s good that you sent Dawn away, Buffy. I don’t like the looks of things here. It feels…funny.” Willow had sent out her magical feelers. “Ethan is here close by. I can feel him.”

“As can I.” Giles nodded in agreement, his eyes going to the rearview mirror to find Carolee’s gaze. She was sitting behind him. His eyes were worried. She gave him a little smile to try and soothe his brow, and his expression softened in gratitude.

Buffy opened her door. “Come on, let’s get on with it.” They all followed suit, weapons in hand. Allison and Carolee hung back, as instructed. They were grateful they were allowed to come, but there was no way Allison was going to be left behind. She needed to see that her husband was okay, and Carolee wanted to stick by her best friend’s side. Not to mention the fact she wanted to keep an eye on Giles too.

Heidi stalked down the middle of the quiet street toward Buffy, gesturing with her finger for Howard to follow. “Where’s this key?” Her tone was cold and serious. She crossed her arms over her chest in a defiant gesture, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder.

Buffy frowned, confused and not a little wary. “What do you know of the key? And where is Ethan?” Buffy’s glance went quickly over to Howard. He only had eyes for Heidi, however. It was as if he was a dog on a leash, keeping close to his master.

“I know it unlocks the door to everything one could imagine. Ethan is no concern of yours. He’s rather tied up, at the moment.” Heidi chuckled at that. Concealed in his hiding place behind the tree, Ethan glared, goose bumps forming on his arms. He looked down at his spell and softly began to chant the magical words.

Giles stood just behind Buffy and to her left, while Spike flanked her right. Spike glanced over to the sidewalk. He thought he had seen some kind of movement, but shrugged when his cursory inspection found nothing amiss. He turned his gaze back to Heidi.

Willow and Xander stood just behind them, blocking Allison and Carolee from Heidi’s view, although Allison kept jumping up on her tippy toes to try and keep an eye on Howard. Carolee prayer fervently for all their safety, her eyes never leaving the back of Giles’s head.

“The deal was that I give Ethan the key, and he would give us Howard back.” Buffy didn’t like this one bit.

“I know nothing of Ethan’s dealings, and frankly I don’t care. Besides, I don’t see the key.”

“And you won’t, bitch.” Spike muttered. Buffy turned her glare at him and smacked him on the shoulder. “Shut up, Spike.”

Spike rubbed at his arm. “Ow, hey, I’m just trying to help.”

“You are unbelievable.” Buffy huffed, turning back to Heidi. “Just give me Howard and we’ll be done with this. I’ll let your miserable butt go.” Buffy was just bluffing, of course. She’d stake Heidi at the first chance she got. She’d do it now with her crossbow except for the facts that Howard was standing right behind the evil vamp, and that Buffy still didn’t know where Ethan was. This was probably all just a distraction. “Will? You got anything?”

Willow nodded. “He’s here, and close.”

And then they all heard his voice, chanting on the wind. “He’s doing a spell!” Giles shouted, leveling his sword toward Heidi’s chest.

“Well, that is unexpected.” Heidi frowned, pointedly ignoring both Slayer and Watcher, instead turning her head toward the sound of the voice.

Spike noticed the hesitation. He figured this was his chance, and took it. He leapt from his spot next to Buffy, shoving Heidi out of the way and wrapping his arms around Howard. “I’ve got him!”

Just then Ethan’s words began to crackle in the night sky. Lightning flashed and both Spike and Howard stiffened.

“Cauponor Ortus!” Ethan screamed the last two words of the spell.

Spike and Howard both looked at each other, still wrapped in Spike’s embrace. They both shook, their bodies morphing before everyone’s very eyes. Allison screamed, and everyone was frozen in their shoes. After seconds which seemed like hours, Spike and Howard seemed to fall into one another. Then they fell to the ground in an explosion of smoke. When the air cleared, Spike sat up. Howard was no where in sight.

“Spike?” Buffy ran over to the fallen vampire, crouching down at his side.

“Allison? What’s going on?” Spike searched the crowd for Allison. She ignored the shouts of others trying to keep her back and hurried to Spike’s side. “Where did my husband go?”

Tears began to leak out of Spike’s eyes. “I’m right here,” he said.

“What?” Buffy and Allison both squeaked out the single question at once.

Spike got up onto his knees. “I’m Howard, and…I’m Spike.” He shook his head. “Oh, I don’t feel so well.” Then he swooned, passing out with his head landing in Allison’s lap.

Ethan glanced down at his book, only noticing too late the pages had changed in the wind. “Bloody hell, that’s the wrong spell!” He lifted his head and noted that all attention was off of him. He caught Heidi’s glance, picking up his book and getting to his feet. She gave him an evil smile and hurried to his side, grabbing his out stretched hand. “I think it’s best if we flee with due haste.” Ethan smirked, and then they ran down the other street.

Too late, Willow felt rather then saw Ethan’s escape. “Oh no, they’re getting away!” Xander and Giles took off down the street, but it was too late. Ethan and Heidi got away. Willow reached out with her magical fingers and then frowned and shook her head. “They’re gone.”

“Never mind. Let’s get Spike into the Suburban and back home.” Buffy grabbed him by the shoulders and Giles took him by the legs, giving Allison an understanding glance. “We’ll find out what happened to Howard.” He wished he could believe it.

They laid Spike down on the back seat and made their way back to Scobie Manor. Once reaching home Willow instructed Buffy and Giles to place Spike down on the sofa. They all gathered around Spike and Willow as she sat on the floor in front of him and focused all her energy on the fallen vampire. Her brows wrinkled and she frowned deeply. “That can’t be,” she whispered.

“What, Will?” Buffy asked, getting more impatient by the moment.

Willow looked over at Allison’s big eyes, a face full of confusion and sadness and wonder. She tried to give Allison a little smile. “Um, that is Spike and it is Howard. Their essence. Their essences combined and have made one. It’s Spike’s body, but it’s Howard’s soul. Yet, Spike is in there too.” The witch shrugged. She didn’t know how else to explain it.

Carolee looked down at her hand as she felt Giles slip his strong fingers around her own. She squeezed his hand back, thankful for his reassurance. Allison scooted over on her knees to be closer to Spike. Gently she lifted her hand and ran a finger down Spike’s cheek. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her, a smile coming on his face. Allison gazed into his eyes and gasped. One eye was that of Spike, the other, most certainly, that of her husband.