Sorry for the delay in posting; I had finals to slay.
Chapter 8
*****Flash*****
Angelus had Spike tied naked in front of a curtained window. Darla and Drusilla were reclined on a sofa to William’s right, half hidden by shadows. Angelus was standing beside the window, holding the curtain cord. He gave it a tug, letting sunlight stream in on Spike. The younger vampire screamed in pain. After a few seconds, Angelus closed the curtains. Buffy could smell Spike’s flesh burning. Angelus walked over to him and grabbed his hair roughly. In the fledgling’s ear he whispered, “Now what did that teach you about insulting Darla?”
Spike, skin raw and still smoking faintly, glared defiantly at Angelus. “You’re a piece of shite, you bogtrotter bastard, and so’s your whore of a sire!”
“Wrong answer, boy,” Angelus purred, releasing Spike and walking back to the curtains. He yanked them open wider this time, much to Darla and Drusilla’s delight. The process was repeated several times.
When Spike finally apologized, his skin was burned black. He remained suspended from the ceiling, leaking some kind of clear fluid all over the woven carpet. Darla came over and stood before him. One of her hands reached out and scraped harshly over his chest. Spike let out a gurgling moan of pain. But the hand was merciless. It traced all over him, torso, legs, arms, and crotch, aggravating his injuries.
Eventually Darla got bored. She and Angelus wandered out of the room, pulling Dru with them. Dru clucked at Spike, telling him how naughty he was as she was led away. Probably to the closest bedroom. That was where most of these memories ended. Buffy was getting used to it. Witnessing the tortures from a century ago.
The rape in the alley had been the first of a string of memories in which the vampire whose mind she was touring was tormented, usually by Angelus. The reasons varied. Usually he’d disagreed with the senior vampire. Buffy wasn’t sure whether to admire Spike’s courage at continuing to try and put Angelus in his place, or shake her head at his foolishness.
Buffy breathed a sigh of relief when Spike passed out. She was calling him Spike now, not William. After the last half-dozen memories of him being abused by his vampire family, there was little of William to be seen in him. Yet somehow she suspected that William wasn’t so far gone as he seemed. There were moments when Spike showed shreds of his former self.
*****Flash*****
Like now. Drusilla was lying on a bed, her back bleeding from being whipped, while Spike tended her with kind words.
It was like the person she knew as Spike was a shell. William didn’t become Spike deliberately. He’d created a shield called ‘Spike’ because he needed the defense against Angelus. Against Darla. Against Dru. To survive. You don’t meet that many vampire poets.
Buffy wondered how far the Spike persona went these days. Early on in the memories it was obviously still William pretending to be tough. A few hits with a whip and the Spike façade fell away. Now…it was harder to reach the part of him she called ‘William’.
But it was still there. Humanity. She realized now that was what she had trusted in Spike. He was a balance between demon and human, even if the human pieces were mostly mental. Maybe that was why he had such bizarre mood swings. His mind was pieced together from parts of two very different things.
Mostly he showed the demon pieces. She could understand that. After all, you couldn’t afford to get attached to your next meal. He hadn’t seen humans as anything but that since he was turned. But now, with the chip, he had to deal with people again. So that part of him that was still William-y was closer to the surface than it had been since before Buffy’d met him. Maybe she’d seen that humanity and through some unknown slayer instinct realized that Spike was now less enemy, more friend. And that was pretty impressive, seeing as she was not usually known as insight-girl.
And in truth, sometimes it was obvious that he’d changed. Spike acted like a decent guy with her mom. They liked talking about soap operas together. He’d made himself Dawn’s big brother, even if he wouldn’t admit to it. He’d watched out for Dawn when she snuck out of the house and helped find her later. Buffy wouldn’t have expected him to be best friends with Xander, but Spike wasn’t nearly as insulting to him as he once was. Spike wasn’t real friendly with Anya, Giles, or Willow, but he never went out of his way to scare Tara. And he hadn’t threatened to kill any of them in a long time.
So yes, definitely showing human traits. While still acting like a jerk around Buffy.
His attitude, his insults, and his swagger were all weapons he’d used against Angelus. They were his normal defense against things that made him insecure. He was nice with Dawn and Joyce Summers because they weren’t a threat to him. Since he still lashed out at Buffy, she could only assume Spike saw her as dangerous to him.
It bothered Buffy that her most significant ally didn’t trust her enough to lay down that mask.
It wasn’t like she was mean to him. Maybe she hit him once in a while. Broke his nose occasionally. But that wasn’t a big deal and he usually deserved it. He was evil. At least, he used to be. And he used to be able to hit back.
Buffy frowned. A tiny little burn of guilt started in the pit of her stomach. That was the kind of thing Angelus had done: hurting a defenseless William. She hadn’t thought of Spike as a person. Buffy couldn’t let herself be cruel to him anymore. She didn’t think it would be so easy using him as a punching bag now, anyway. Not after seeing where Spike came from.
*****Flash*****
Angelus was sticking a hot poker into William’s side. It looked painful
Buffy sighed. She’d had the question of why she trusted Spike answered. She felt secure with her decision. But having glimpsed William, the sweet little poet that was hiding underneath the curses and bleach, she wanted to get a better look at him. Shocking as it was, she wanted to be Spike’s friend.
________________________________________________________________________
Giles allowed the conversation he’d been having with Xander to lapse into silence. The images and memories Xander’s words brought forward sent his mind down frightening paths. He pushed the disturbing theories that had formed in the back of his mind aside in favor of focusing on the situation at hand.
The crypt door creaked open a few inches. Giles tensed as he saw the point of a crossbow edge through the small opening between the door and the frame. He relaxed as Willow’s head appeared above the crossbow. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement, at which she flashed a tight smile before pushing the door open the rest of the way. Tara entered behind her, carrying one of the cheap paper sacks Anya stocked for Magic Box purchases.
Tara set the ingredients on one of the sarcophagi. She nodded to Xander, who had jumped down from his stone seat, and to Giles. She looked over to where Drusilla was sitting on the sofa, apparently oblivious to the arrival of the two witches. “Everything o-okay? N-no attacks…” she said in a concerned whisper.
Giles shook his head, matching her tone. “No. It would seem we’re part of a cease fire of some sort. She will not be aggressive as long as she believes we’re helping Spike.”
Willow closed the door before moving to her girlfriend’s side. “I’m sorry we were gone so long. It took forever to find the antidote and convince Anya to let us pay for things later.”
“Get everything?” Giles asked.
With a frown, Willow shook her head. “All but one ingredient.” She fished a photocopy of the recipe out of her pocket and handed it to Giles. She took a breath, then rushed to explain. “We need some venom from the gahr – um, demon that stung Spike. After we have that it’s an easy potion to brew, just put the elk bile on to boil and add the powdered ingredients - ”
“Yes, thank you, Willow,” Giles replied. “You and Tara have done an excellent job on this.” He sighed. “However, that leaves us with a rather significant problem. We have to find a way of tracking the glarghk guhl kashma’nik. We cannot trace it from the site of the attack, as we do not know where that is.”
“What about going over to Willy’s and playing beat the bartender?” Xander asked. “That’s always a good way to start.”
Giles shook his head. “They are not a particularly social demon, certainly not the kind to frequent bars or mingle with other species, so Willy is not likely to be of assistance in this case.”
“The gentleman likes the trees,” Drusilla murmured from her spot on the sofa. “The sun holds a ball, winking at him through a thousand fans. He doesn’t want to dance.”
Giles exchanged a glance with the three young people beside him. He stepped closer to the sofa. “The demon is in the forest?” He queried. She gave a distracted nod, still staring at the television. “Drusilla…can you find the gentleman?”
Her body turned toward him, her arms splayed across the back of the couch. Her head tilted coyly to one side. “Are we to play a game for sweet William?”
Giles nodded. “Yes. We’ll…” he groped in the recesses of his mind for a good analogy. Drusilla continued to watch him, unblinking. At last he lighted on an idea. “We’ll play hide and seek. We’re on the seeking team.”
She beamed at him. “To find the gentleman?”
“Yes. And afterward, we have to bring him back here, to help Spike.”
Her expression darkened. “He’ll be a king and banish the naughty slayer.”
Giles was not quick to answer. He felt that he needed to make something clear. “Drusilla, we will not bring Spike back if you harm any of us. That includes Buffy. Do you understand?”
She thought for a moment, then nodded. “Wicked girls play nice for their princes.”
Giles sighed. “Very well then. You and I will go hunting.”
He heard a snort from behind him. “Giles, you cannot be serious,” Xander whispered. “Not only is she a vampire, but have you noticed how many French fries are missing from her happy meal?”
He resisted the urge to take off his glasses and glare in Xander’s direction. The boy was trying to look out for him, after all. “Yes Xander, I understand the situation. But we need that demon, and she can find it.”
“Then let me go with you. Just in case she forgets about the whole ‘play nice’ pledge.”
“No. I need you to stay here in case Tara or Willow need anything. Ladies,” he looked to Willow and Tara, “start brewing the antidote. Hopefully we’ll be back within the hour.”
They nodded. Willow gave an uneasy smile before handing him her crossbow. “I think you’re gonna need this. And don’t you dare get hurt. Buffy would never forgive us. Or you.”
Giles flashed her a small, reassuring smile. “I shall keep that in mind. I wouldn’t want to risk the wrath of the slayer, after all.” She smiled back.
Xander chuckled. “Yeah, well, she’s pretty fearsome. Killer sense of style, and all. Hey G-man?”
“Yes, Xander?”
“Good hunting.”
*****
Please let me know what you think! Thanks Linda!
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