Spoilers from all of BTVS and ATS; but this fic starts out in season 5's episode "Into the Woods."
Chapter One - The Story of the Big Bad and the Pint-Sized Bitch
(Beta by Spikeslovebite; final touches by Oracleholly)
Pain greater than any physical sensation he had ever known pierced his chest with searing, white-hot agony as he looked up into the coward's eyes. Spike refused to give the boy any kind of satisfaction; he would not let the spineless twerp see that he- like most sane creatures- feared death.
The sadistic glee in Riley's eyes as he rammed the stake home was chilling. The boy may have a soul, but he was as evil as Hitler. Finn was as bestial as Angelus at his worst; he simply hid it behind his 'aw shucks', corn fed exterior.
It never failed to amaze him that the Scoobies had never seen Finn's dark side. Couldn't they bloody figure out that Cardboard was far worse than any card carrying member of the Aryan Youth? Of course not, he gave them that calculated goofy grin and everything was fine. The lot of them was blind, only seeing evil in soulless 'monsters'. Even Anya and Giles - both of whom should have known better - thought Riley was a great guy.
As Finn yanked the stake out, he started to speak, but a sudden tentacle around his neck jerked him back wiping off both his words and his smug grin. As Spike looked over the tumbling form of Finn, he saw her.
It could have been Buffy - a very young Buffy - holding on to the handle of a very long, very lethal looking Blacksnake whip. The chit was bleeding badly. She was wavering, and even as he smelled her blood; he was moving towards her at vamp speed to catch her before she fell.
"Pappa?" Her wispy voice seemed so far away.
"Here, sweetling. " An oh-so-familiar voice came from a few yards outside of the crypt, but the owner was moving fast. Soon the source of that voice was inside and helping Spike before Finn could remove the coiled whip from his throat.
"Spike?" Finn said in his malicious, hate-filled voice. "What the hell are you playing at now?"
"Oh, bloody hell!" snarled the golden haired stranger with sharp cheekbones. Without once hesitating, he hit Riley so hard the man's body bounced three times before skidding to a halt under Spike's couch. "Wanted to bloody do that for decades. You don't mind; do ya mate?" he asked of the thoroughly gob-smacked Spike.
"No problem, mate." It was all Spike could think of to say.
"Pappa? Hospital now," he wounded bitty Buffy whispered.
Even as his doppelganger gathered the girl up into his arms, he handed Spike a syringe. "Give him a shot of this, mate. He'll never know what hit him. Then come to the hospital."
Spike, just nodded as the man turned to leave. He seemed almost in a trance as he gave Cardboard the shot… With not even a glimmer of a headache.
Spike followed the trail carefully, wondering if he should call the watcher. Somehow he figured if this other Spike wanted Ripper, he would call him himself. He never slowed in his six mile run to the hospital, desperate to find the two. If his guess was right, he had just met living, breathing proof that he really COULD be with Buffy. He was exhilarated. Ecstatic even. But that didn't stop the fear in his heart that this younger version of Buffy might bite it, and not in the good way. Spike's steps never faltered as he entered the Emergency room, and he quickly found the other Spike pacing and chewing gum.
CHEWING GUM?
Bloody hell, he would have to quit smoking to be with the Slayer? The bint was evil! As he walked closer, he smelled the soul on his 'other' self and cringed. Oh shit, quit smoking AND get a soul? Could he just bloody stake himself now? 'Course, there WAS the nibblet in the other room… Okay, the soul he could do, but quitting smoking? Shit! Okay, he could quit. Yeah. He'd only been smoking… what? Some 50 odd years. Easy!
Bloody hell, he needed a fag.
"What the bloody hell happened to her?" Spike snarled.
"Finn," his elder self ground out between clenched teeth. "He had my son." He jerked a thumb towards the ER surgery doors. "Her twin. He was captured by the Initiative. They had my boy." The Elder was almost in tears. "Me and Buffy and the Scoobs went in after him."
The tears were running freely down his face by now. "Joyce and Erin… I bloody told them to stay home, but in the midst of the fighting, I stumble into the room where they're holding Will and there they were, fighting that cyborg monster. He pulled out a pistol and started shooting at them, and the next thing I know, the lights are goin' bloody wonky and I'm outside your door."
"And we left the murdering poofter alive in my crypt?" Spike was in full game face, pacing and ready to explode.
The elder watched the younger as he pulled out his cigarettes. "Bloody hell I need one of those." He dragged the younger vampire outside.
"Soooo, your MATE won't mind a smoke."
"My mate thinks I'm bloody smokin' without the fag," elder Spike answered as he took a long drag. His hooded eyes and slight smile made it obvious that he was enjoying the nicotine entering his lungs. "We can't kill your Finn, not yet. Ever hear of a drug called Tanitkd?"
"The truth spell in a bottle?" Spike answered. He had only heard snippets of gossip about the magically enhanced drug.
"Not a truth spell, per se. It makes a bloke show his true face. He can still lie; he just can't hide what he truly is anymore." His smirk was truly malicious. "Anyway, it takes three doses and I had just given him the first. Trust me; killing him now would be a mercy. You'll definitely want him to stick around for the last two doses."
"What do they do?"
"Ask me when I'm not so worried about m' offspring, mate. I'll spill all the details then."
"Pretty much have to trust you, don't I? You're me."
"Only a whole lot smarter," the elder Spike snickered. "Right then, back to the crypt and Cardboard staking you with a plastic stake." He stood stiffly, his hands buried in his pockets, trying to remember the circumstances around this event and what he could use from it. Then it hit him. "Joyce back home yet?"
"Yeah, been back a few days, why?"
"You remember Aerifinn?" he asked. "Bloody loony bint, but the best human healer alive?"
"Got the loony part right. Crazy bird could give Dru a run for her money. Always asking me if I want a s-..." Spike gasped, suddenly catching on to his train of thought. "You're insane."
"Joyce is gonna die if they keep using these doctors. That would break Buffy and the Bit. Tell Aer that you'll trade her healing Joyce and the chip for it." Senior Spike knew this would work; it had too. "More 'n likely the Watcher has heard of her, he'll back you up on it."
"Mum'll die." It hurt, more than he had thought it would, and not only for Buffy's sake. "Why don't I just tell them something is up with Joyce?"
"Oh yeah, I can see that going over well, " the elder said as he drew in the last dregs of his smoke. "Accept this mate; the Scoobs hate you and they'll hate me by association. You tell them about us and they'll come a-scamperin' over here to ogle us both, and they are getting nowhere near Joy. Not these Scoobs. They come near my daughter and they will know fear, then pain, then death."
"Babylon 5 fan, huh?" Spike smirked at his elder. "But yeah, I get it. And Finn?"
"Call Aerifinn. Make the deal with her, then wake Ripper up early and tell him the truth- that you smell old blood on Joyce. Then ask if he's heard of Aerifinn, tell him you made a deal with her to heal Joyce. Tell him the truth; that she and the bit are the closest thing to family you have. Also tell him about Finn tonight, tell him it was one of Aerifinn's agents that knocked him out, not knowing who he was." Elder Spike smiled evilly. "Another thing; tell Ripper that it was you that called in the healer, and you'd like to keep that between the two of you. No need to let anyone know your weaknesses."
"But if Buffy knows-" he began to protest.
"If she knows that you meant for her to know, she'll think it was a trick. Look, mate, for once in your un-life, just try to concentrate on doing the right thing, and not on what Buffy will think. Bloody hell, give Rupes an hour or six before you go by. Patrol near the school - wipe out Tagon's nest, destroy Drakken's followers. Do that and you save a lot of lives, and I'll wager if you are honest with yourself, you'll bloody enjoy it. Forget about impressing Buffy for five minutes and do it for yourself. Do it because if you don't, one of them might get Joyce, or Dawn, or hell even the Whelp."
"Your daughter, she'll be alright?" he asked the elder.
"She has to be, mate. She just has too."
Six hours later
Spike had forgotten how much dosh Tagon kept on hand. He had come up with nearly ten grand in cash and the paperwork to half a million more. Tagon hadn't been a normal vamp; he was to drugs what the girl's at the docks were to hooking. He bought, sold, and stole from every dealer in southern California. If there had been time, he was sure he could have come up with millions more using the stuff that was there. 'Course he had brought all the paperwork with him on the assumption that Red could help him out later.
"What do you want, Spike?" Giles asked bitterly as he opened the door in his pajamas.
Spike pushed by him into the apartment. He wasted no time in getting to the point of his visit. "You ever hear of a loony healing bint named Aerifinn?"
"Yes Spike, I have, although I wouldn't call her loony." Giles suddenly stepped back. There was only one thing Spike would need a healer of this caliber for: the chip. "Uhhhhm, what did she heal for you?" He glanced around the room looking for a weapon.
"Nothing yet." Spike couldn't help the smile in his eyes. "This isn't about me, you git! Joyce smells of old blood. I talked to Aerifinn about it and she says it could be the beginnings of a blood clot. She'll be here later today to discuss details with you. Oh, yeah… Cardboard was there when her operative come by the crypt. Finn was feeling all manly whilst smacking around a demon that couldn't hit back, so Aerifinn's man kind of stopped him. Didn't kill him - more's the pity - just knocked him out."
"Please Spike," Rupert began cleaning his glasses, having seemingly forgotten Joyce. "Riley is not a man to attack the defenseless."
"See this, Ripper?" Spike opened his shirt to show him the stake hole in his chest. "Your oh-so-sweet Whitebread did this with a wood-grained plastic stake, just 'cause he soddin' well could. Never forget he is a bloody sadist."
In a swirl of black leather, Spike exited quickly to avoid any more questions.
Riley Finn woke up with a smile on his face. Spike had hit him. The chip was out, and now Buffy would stake the vermin and quit protecting him. He knew of a few highly happy inducing drugs he could use on Angel, and then both of them would be out of his and Buffy's life.
But first he had to put Buffy in her place.
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