Once again, Tara and Giles were sitting at the research table when a squabbling Xander and Spike appeared at the door.

“It’s true, Spike!”

“You’re wrong, Whelp. There is no way that they are going to let T’Pol and Trip do it! Unresolved Sexual Tension is the mainstay of all Star Trek seri…” Spike stopped his rant suddenly, snarling at the pair sitting in front of them. “Never mind.” He threw himself onto the stairs leading to the balcony and lit a cigarette.

“Hey guys. What’s up? I’m sure that you’ve all heard about our girls’ big debuts.” Xander sat next to Giles, leaning back in his chair.

“Unfortunately, yes. Buffy asked for the next few days off to prepare, as well as the weekend for the show. I will need your assistance in patrolling, if you don’t mind.” Giles’ expression spoke volumes as he looked back down at the book in his hands.

“Tara and I have been researching the islands of Bermuda. We have found some interesting information.” Giles began to flip through the book in his hand, looking for some specific text.

“Here, look at this. There is an area of the island that is considered sacred by the people who live there. It doesn’t say why, though…” Giles began to murmur to himself as he continued to browse through the book.

“Ok, looks like we just lost Giles. How are you doing, Tara? Heard that you’re out of school for the next month or so.” Xander began to pat his pockets, Spike style, before pulling out the candy bar that he had so cleverly stashed before being shoved out of the apartment.

“Y..yeah. I’m doing some research with Giles. I’m looking at Mythology and it’s Sociological…” Xander interrupted before the Wicca could finish.

“Um… sounds great.” He looked decidedly uncomfortable with the scientific description of Tara’s study topic.

Bored with watching the others, Spike stood and began to pace around the room, fingering items as he passed them. “So, Watcher, you said you would fill us in tonight, so fill.” He picked up a crystal ball and began to toss it into the air, catching it from a different angle with each downswing.

“Yes, I will… Spike, do put that down. It may be credulous merchandise, but I will make a profit off of it. Thank you.” He eyed Spike as the ball was unceremoniously dropped back into its position on the counter.

“As I was saying, the Council has been monitoring the Triangle and its effects on the population for some time. However, their contact on the island is one of the people who has disappeared. The Council is quite concerned that the Hellmouth might be changing in some way. It is unknown if the creatures attacking the population have come out of the Hellmouth or if they have just been drawn to it. There have been no witnesses to the attacks except for the contact from the Council, and, as I mentioned, he’s missing now as well.” Giles paused to gage the reactions of the others.

“So, what exactly does the Council want us to do?” Xander’s question made Giles smile. Not ‘you’, but ‘us’.

“They have asked that we go to the island and do our own investigation into the disappearances and the Hellmouth.”  Giles was surprised when he felt his body relax after this revelation.

“Sod that! I’m not getting on a plane with you lot and flying all over the bleedin’ planet, trying to save the day. I got enough to worry myself about here in Sunnyhell!” Spike’s argumentative reaction was far from unexpected, and as Xander opened his mouth to retort, Giles placed a hand on his arm and shook his head gently. Spike continued to pace as his tirade intensified.

 “What, you think that now I have this chip in my head, I’m just your little attack vamp? Not gonna happen! I’m Evil! I don’t go around saving puppies and ridding the world of demons. Well, I do, but just because the violence is bloody brilliant.” An evil smirk crossed his face as his thoughts continued. “Yeah, blood and gore, that’s what I’m all about. Bet those nasties in Bermuda wouldn’t stand a chance against the Big Bad. Yeah. They’ll see what happens when you mess with William the Bloody…”

Spike stopped pacing as he realized what he had said. “Oh, bloody hell. Fine, I’m in. When do we leave?”

Giles reached into his jacket and removed a set of tickets. “We are scheduled to depart next Wednesday from Los Angeles. We have an extended layover in Texas then will take a short flight to Atlanta then to Miami. From there, we will set out on a cruise ship for Bermuda.”

“A cruise ship? Why aren’t we just going to fly out there?” Xander licked the chocolate off of his fingers as he waited for Giles’ answer.

Spike’s own concerns about the excessive layovers and flights were lost as he watched Xander’s slippery tongue slowly drawing the warm chocolate off of his hand.

Tara looked at Spike, surprised at the look on his face. She glanced to see what he was looking at and grinned. Xander had finished licking and had drawn his entire middle finger into his mouth to suck off the sweet candy. Spike inhaled loudly.

“What, pet, not up for a moonlight cruise?” Spike covered his gasp with a snarky comment. What the hell was he thinking, getting aroused by the whelp licking his fingers clean?

“Not with you, no.” Xander’s own reply was quick. Giles stepped in before they became involved in a full-blown fight.

“I would rather fly straight through myself without all the layovers and time spent onboard a ship. However, this is the fastest that I could get us out to the island. For some reason there are no direct flights going to the island within the next month. Bloody American Tourism Board…”

Giles returned to his book. “Even with my consenting to the erratic and completely insane traveling plans, there are no flights available any earlier than next week. This leaves us time for research and allows for Anya, Buffy and Willow to participate in Cordelia’s… thing.” He frowned as he thought of the excitement that the three young women projected over wandering up and down a catwalk.

“Please be ready to leave by four pm next Wednesday. We will meet here and leave for the airport before five. I was able to insure night flights throughout our journey. I’m not sure how long we will be needed, but be prepared to be gone for approximately three weeks.” With that, Giles returned to his research.

“Three weeks! What about my job, G-man? I do have to work you know.” Xander was excited about the prospect of getting away from Sunnydale, no matter the length of the trip, but felt as though he should put up a token protest.

Giles sighed once more and looked at the young man over the top of his glasses. “Xander, last week you told me that your boss had just asked you to take your vacation time sometime soon as you were accumulating it too quickly, did you not? You have over five weeks accrued already, correct?”

“Yeah. I’ll talk to my foreman.” Xander had forgotten about that conversation. He began to filter through his wardrobe in his mind, thinking about what to take when he suddenly thought of something. “Will it be OK to leave the shop closed for that long, Giles?”

“What do you mean, Xander?” Giles asked distractedly.

“Well, with you and Anya both gone, the shop will have to be closed. Won’t you lose your customers if you’re gone that long?” Xander was truly concerned. Spike snorted.

“Anya will not be going, Xander. I have tickets for you, myself and Spike.” The bell sounded and the room was filled with the excited chattering of Buffy, Anya and Willow.

Willow bounded over to Tara, kissing her full on the mouth. “Look at what I got!” She began to dig through the bag in her arms, dropping several items to the table in front of her girlfriend.

Anya squealed at the sight of Xander and began to unload her bag into his lap. Buffy pouted when she realized that she had no one to show off her items to. Spike noticed.

“Ah, poor Slayer. No soldier boy to entertain you; whatever will you do?” Buffy shot a look at Spike before flouncing into the training room with the cordless phone.

Giles dropped his head to the table as he listened to the young people around him. Xander was trying to placate Anya while Spike shot verbal jibes in his direction. Willow and Tara were whispering with their heads pressed together, so close that blonde and red twined.

As Buffy returned, Giles cleared his throat. “I am pleased that you all enjoyed your outing today. I know that you have much more to say, but we do need to research and patrol tonight. Shall we begin?”

As Giles filled the remaining Scoobies in on the complications concerning the triangle, Spike sat on the counter, kicking his feet and watching the people around him.

These children had been protecting Sunnydale and the rest of the world for the past four years. It was incredible to him. They had no special abilities other than Buffy’s Slayer calling, but still they fought the forces of evil. He rolled his eyes at his own thoughts. He sounded like one of the comic books that the boy had stashed under his bed that he thought no one knew about.

Red’s powers were growing. He was concerned that she would do something stupid after dog-boy left her, but Giles had been able to convince her that spell casting while emotions were running so high was dangerous. Spike shuddered as he considered what might have happened if she had actually cast the ‘my will be done’ spell that she had come across after Oz had packed up and left for good.

Spike turned his attention to the Slayer. Buffy was staring at nothing, barely listening to what her Watcher was saying. He growled quietly, perturbed that she would tune out the one person that could help her stay alive. She was a worthy adversary, but Spike was afraid that she was becoming overconfident. He knew that if she were this brash when they had first fought, he would have easily won. Of course, he himself tended to think too much of his own skills, hence her still being alive.

Xander said something, drawing Spike’s attention. He could see that Anya’s hand was stroking the young man’s cock under the table. He sniffed the air, drawing in the delightful smell of Xander’s arousal.

“So… patrol. Buffy, you, Xander and Willow take the main route. Spike and I will follow up on some leads that I have about the unusual activity at the lake. Tara could you and Anya continue cross referencing the texts that I gave you earlier?” At Tara’s nod, he turned to his partner for the evening. “Ready?”

*****

The group trudged into the Magic Box several hours later, all smelling of T’glath slime. “So you found them?” Tara asked, wrinkling her nose at the smell.

“Yes, we found them, yes, we killed them and yes, we stink.” Buffy slopped down at the table and began to run her fingers through her hair, flinging thick slime onto the wooden floor.

“Buffy, please do not do that!” Giles sighed. “I suggest that we all shower here.” Turning to the smirking vampire, he added, “No, Spike, not all together. If we do not get this off our skin soon, it will begin to petrify.” He looked down at Willow who had received the strongest spray from the demon and was covered head to toe. “Would you care to be first?”

Willow dashed for the training room without a word, dripping a steady stream of slime as she ran. Spike chuckled and shrugged off his duster, which amazingly, had not a drop on it.

“How is that that you go out with us and kill the slimy things, we all get covered in this vile crap, but you only have it on your hair and boots?” Xander shook his head, attempting to dislodge the green goop from his ear canal.

Spike shrugged and dropped his slimed covered boots onto a chair as he reclined. “I dunno, just lucky, I guess.”

Xander glanced around the room. “Where’s Ahn?”

Tara looked up from the book she was reading. “She went home fifteen minutes ago. S..she said to tell you that you are excused from giving her…” She blushed furiously.

“I get it,” Xander groaned.

Giles walked from his office, rubbing a towel vigorously over his head as Xander dropped into the chair next to Spike and leaned back, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

Buffy glanced up from her position across from Tara as Willow reappeared from the training room in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt.

“Me next!” The door slammed as the Slayer rushed to the shower to clean herself.

“I am so glad that we all started keeping extra clothes up here. I threw that outfit into the trash.” Willow began to brush her thick hair. Tara stopped her with a touch. Smiling, Willow dropped to the floor in front of her girlfriend and sat between her knees. Tara looked at Spike as she began to brush the red hair in front of her.

“I found some i..interesting information on Bermuda while you were out, Spike. There is a p..place in Pembroke Parish called the Admiralty House. It was built in the early 1800s. Starting around 1849, someone dug an elaborate system of tunnels and caverns beginning under the house. The tunnels run all over the island.” She winked at Spike, grinning at the stunned expression on his face.

“Really, Glinda?” Spike seemed unsure what to say next.

“The Council rented you guys a house called Mazarine by the Sea. It’s less than a mile from the Admiralty House. Betcha you could access the tunnels somehow from there.” Tara finished brushing her sleepy lover’s hair and drew her to her feet. “C’mon, Willow, let’s go home, it’s late.” She picked up their bags and a small stack of books and led Willow from the store. Willow smiled hazily at everyone and waved her hand as she yawned. “’Night.”

Buffy stomped through the room. “Gotta get home, Giles. My mom’s gonna freak.” As she disappeared out the door, Xander wandered into the training room for his shot at the shower.

*****

As he stood under the warm spray, Xander allowed his thoughts to drift. It was just like Anya to announce to whoever was around that he was excused from giving her orgasms for the night. He sighed, yet another personality quirk that he just could not get used to.

He looked up, letting the water run into his face. Thoughts of Anya and orgasms had unfortunately resulted in his body reacting in its normal manner and he was now sporting an impressive erection. He groaned, miserable. He was standing in the shower of the Magic Box with people waiting for him to finish. From years of experience, he knew his hard-on wouldn’t just go away, so he wrapped a calloused hand around the sensitive flesh and began to stroke hard. He wasn’t aiming for pleasure, just release.

He ran his thumb over the head of his dick, smoothing the creamy precome across the surface. He stroked harder, trying to come up with a fantasy that would end this quickly. Anya in her new lingerie, Anya sucking his cock, Anya and Buffy sucking his cock at the same time… Nothing helped. He stroked, pulled, pushed with his hips and strained his muscles, but he couldn’t come.

He leaned against the wall of the shower stall and tried to calm down. Forcing it wouldn’t work. Xander closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander, still stroking himself gently. Suddenly he saw Angel coming towards him, grabbing him in a headlock. Xander tensed and wondered where his brain was taking him, but since his cock seemed not to care, he decided just to go along for the ride.

Angel dragged him down a dark hallway and began speaking to someone else. When Xander looked up, he saw luminescent eyes looking down at him and he felt his erection jerk. He began stroking harder as the blond vampire in his mind dropped to his knees before Xander; Angel tugged the dark headed boy upright, still holding him firmly in his grasp.

Fantasy Spike growled at the two men in front of him before reaching out and pulling down Xander’s zipper, dragging his cock out. Xander struggled against the strong arms holding him to no effect. The man on his knees before him slid his mouth gently around the head of his cock. His tongue pressed against the slit before somehow wrapping itself all the way around his shaft. Looking up at Xander through his eyelashes, Spike began to suck gently and…

“Aaaggh! Oh, God!” Xander came violently into his hand, spurting his semen against the wall of the shower. He almost cried at the release. Pulling himself up straight, he reached for the soap and quickly washed all the evidence from his body before stepping out of the shower.

As he wrapped a towel around his hips, he flushed. He had just gotten off on the thought of being held forcibly by one vampire while another sucked him off. Xander knew he wouldn’t be able to look Spike in the eyes again.

*****

When he finally reappeared from the training room, he came upon Giles sitting on his haunches next to Spike as the vampire convulsed.

“What set it off this time?” Xander walked over and knelt beside the older man.

“Nothing. He was sitting at the table, smoking. We were discussing the travel arrangements for the trip and he just started screaming and clutching his head. You were right, Xander. Something has to be done.”

Xander swallowed and looked up at Giles. “I did some research last night and I had an idea. I’m not sure if it will work or not because it just seems too obvious, but it couldn’t hurt to try, I mean…”

“Xander,” Giles interrupted. “What was your idea?”

“Well,” Xander studied the pattern on the wooden floor, trying to think through what he wanted to say. One glance at the still shuddering form of the man lying in the floor decided him. “I spent about five hours on the internet last night reading everything I could find on microchips.

The only thing that will absolutely kill a chip of any kind is heat. We don’t want to heat him up, though, because we’d fry his brain before the chip even started to smolder. The chip could be surgically removed, but again, brain damage.” Giles frowned at the young man, silently urging him to hurry.

“Sorry, just trying to go through my thought process. Ok. There are several types of computer chips, some more sensitive than others. It is possible to erase the programming on the more sensitive chips with magnets.” Xander stopped and looked at Giles.

Giles rocked off his feet to sit on the floor, his mouth dropped open. “Xander, you’re right. That was so simple that I hadn’t even considered it. As you say, there is no way to know if his chip is one that would respond to that, but it couldn’t hurt to try.” Giles pulled off his glasses and began to rub them with his shirttail.

“Obviously we will need a rather strong magnetic force to make it through his skull and brain tissue…” Giles looked off distantly, as he searched his brain for any information that might help them help Spike.

“Well, I thought about that, too. MRI machines are basically huge magnets, right? And they would be strong enough to cut through his skull and brain tissue because that’s what they were designed to do.” Xander down at the vampire who lay between them, silent and still.

Giles frowned, contemplating that statement. “No Xander, I believe the MRI would rip the chip out of his brain, straight through his skull. Perhaps an electromagnet…I will do more research into this. That truly was a brilliant idea. Thank you. Here, help me get him up and I’ll assist you with getting him into the car.” They both stood and grasped Spike’s arms, pulling them over their shoulders, dragging him up and towards the door.

THE TRIANGLE 5