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~Part: 21~
Willow was trying to think logically. Now that her mind had cleared somewhat, she was able to recall Buffy's exact words. The Slayer had seen Spike laughing - in her yard. Now somehow laughing did not seem very robotic. Sweeping up the leaves, or trimming her hedge - sure. But laughing? She didn't think so. Which must mean that it had been Spike, rather than the Spikebot, that Buffy had seen. And that was a thought to make Willow's blood run cold.
When she pictured a laughing Spike in her mind, especially in her yard, she could only imagine that the motivation was malice, or mockery, so ... Spike had seen the Spikebot. Maybe leaving her house, or [please, no] with her. Maybe even - [eeeuuwww] *with* her? Willow took a moment to take some steadying breaths before continuing with her train of thought.
If he was laughing instead of demanding an explanation, that meant he had worked out - more or less - what was going on. Which was not that hard to believe; after all, he had gone to Warren's house with her, so he knew the mechanics of how she could have had it done.
And he thought is was funny?
The more Willow brooded, the more questions she had. Spike's remarks this morning about being used; they seemed eerily similar to the words Spikebot had spoken yesterday. Had Spike overheard that conversation? And why was he laughing instead of getting angry, or taking the chance to expose her to the others?
And what about last night? Why hadn't he said anything to her when she went to his crypt? He must have come straight from her house; why had he just engaged in some normal Spike chit-chat? And undressing her and indulging in the Morning Grope - how did that fit in? Maybe he was biding his time, and had some evil scheme in mind that would guarantee her an absolutely humiliating future? That would be just her luck.
Willow's headache was coming back with a vengeance, because the more she thought about it the more complicated it got. Where was Spikebot? If Spike had seen him last night, then he could have easily followed the bot, or done something with him, which would explain the bot's absence. And all the other absences - how could she explain those?
Something very strange was going on, and she found herself in the unenviable position of being unable to ask any questions for fear of giving away too much information and getting herself even deeper into trouble. But one thing was for sure; Spike knew at least some of what was going on, most likely that a Spikebot existed. As to how much more he knew; that was the million dollar question.
Willow tried to distance herself from the problem and think laterally. How to find out what was going on without asking questions? A thought came to her, and she smiled; of course, find the bot. Then he could tell her what had happened last night with Spike - if anything - and she could finally simplify this whole mess somewhat by de-commissioning the bot. After all, with the bot gone, no-one was going to believe Spike over her.
So now - how to find the bot? Willow started her computer and prepared herself for a few hours of searching through Warren's files; there was sure to be something there that could help her.
An hour and a half later, Willow made her fourth attempt to access the network that serviced the global tracking device which Warren had thoughtfully inserted into the bot after his difficulties with his own rogue robot. She had already done this three times, but she was hoping against hope that somehow, this time, the result would be different. She waited for the information to appear on her screen, and found herself holding her breath. The screen blinked, and Willow released her breath in a slow sigh. Once again, the computer was giving her the location of the bot, and to her despair it remained: Peaceful Memories Cemetery, Sunnydale, which also happened to be the home of one Mr William the Bloody, better known as Spike.
[What the hell?] Willow fumed. That was all she needed; Spike had kidnapped her bot!
~Part: 22~
"But what's the surprise?", Buffy asked with genuine interest.
"I can't tell you; you'd just laugh," Willow said with what she hoped was girlish embarrassment. The last thing she felt like at the moment was fighting off an interrogation. Buffy gave Willow an intrigued glance, and tried again. "But Will, I really want to know. You're my best friend, it's part of the code. You have to share all your secrets with me, especially the boyfriend ones. And I promise not to laugh. Slayer's honour." Buffy put her hand on her heart and tried to look sincere.
Willow sighed, trying to remain calm as she kept her eyes on the ground, keeping pace with the Slayer as they walked. "Well, OK, I could tell you." She paused for a few seconds for maximum affect, then said in her most sinister voice, "but then I'd have to kill you." Buffy snorted but refrained from pursuing the topic, obviously decided to spare her friend from any further questions - for now, anyway.
"Fine, but you owe me! I can't believe it has come to this; me, the Slayer, getting involved in Spike's love life," Buffy declared dramatically, as Willow rolled her eyes.
"All you have to do is keep him on patrol for an hour, so I can get the surprise ready," Willow said patiently. Agreeing good naturedly, although obviously wanting to know what exactly was going on, the pair continued to amble through Sunnydale's darkened streets, and Buffy allowed the redhead to direct the conversation into more neutral areas. And so the friends chattered about nothing in particular until coming to a halt about 100 metres or so from Spike's crypt. As agreed earlier, Willow ducked behind a tree while the Slayer headed off to collect Spike and take him on patrol .
Willow had told Buffy she wanted to organise something special for the vampire and she needed to get into his crypt without worrying about him coming back unexpectedly. No doubt Buffy imagined that Spike was going to come home to a candle-bedecked crypt, or a scantily-clad Willow. Hah! Willow was really, really pissed off. Spike was trying to play an angle here; trying to put some scheme into play that she was sure was meant to result in her complete and utter humiliation.
No doubt that faithless blonde vampire thought he could use this whole sordid episode to get into Buffy's good books; exactly how, Willow wasn't sure, but she was beginning to realise there were no limits to the Big Bad's devious nature. Well, if he wanted to play dirty, that was fine with her. First, she would locate the bot and remove him from the playing field, as it were, and then she would be setting her sights on the Big Bad himself.
Seeing that Buffy and Spike were now a good distance away, Willow made her way carefully over to the crypt. She pushed the door open; there was one good thing about having no personal possessions of any value, she thought - no need to worry about home security. Clearing her throat, Willow winced as the sound seemed to be amplified in the quiet of the crypt. [Spike's gone, stop being ridiculous. Just find the bot!] she chided herself, before calling out softly, "Spike? Robot Spike?" There was no answer. Willow did a quick tour of the crypt, but she already knew the bot was nowhere obvious; otherwise she would have seen him when she was here last night.
So - what she needed to do was to look in a not obvious place. There were not really that many options. No cupboards, no large pieces of furniture, just a crypt which she knew had sewer access, and therefore - lots of possibilities for tunnels and caves. Carefully examining the floor, the redhead soon came across a hatchway which, when opened, revealed a staircase leading down into absolute darkness.
Wrinkling her nose at the rush of damp, fetid air that rose from the opened hatch, Willow wished she'd had the foresight to bring an oxygen tank. [Guess the foul air is not such a problem when you don't have to breath] she grumbled as she took off her backpack and unzipped it, searching inside before pulling out a hard hat with a torch affixed to the front. [Spike's is gonna pay for this, every revolting second] the redhead vowed as she took a last gulp of mostly fresh air - it was a crypt, after all - before stepping down onto the first step.
And that first step was nearly her last; Willow felt her foot skid out from under her as her shoe slipped on something, and she grabbed at the sides of the hatchway to maintain her balance. [What the hell?] she fumed as she crouched down to take a better look at the stairs. Only to let loose a stream of much stronger language when she realised that the stairs were sprinkled with pieces of metal and plastic, some small but most large enough to make it clear what had occurred here. Spike had murdered the bot.
Willow decided she didn't have time now to work out what it all meant. First, she had to be sure exactly what was here. After carefully walking down the entire staircase to the small room at the bottom, Willow had seen enough to be sure that the whole bot was here; there may have been a few screws missing, but all the basic body parts seemed to be accounted for. She had seen enough.
Climbing back up the stairs, Willow tried not to kick the pieces of metal that lay scattered everywhere - she wanted to leave as little evidence of her visit as possible. Closing the hatch quietly, the redhead picked up her backpack and walked slowly back to her house, musing over all she had seen.
Things were starting to make a really, really horrible kind of sense. She didn't know why, she didn't know when - exactly, an yway. But one thing she was pretty sure of. From what she had seen at Spike's crypt, it didn't look to her as if the bot had just been dismembered last night. Many of the large parts had been covered in a fine coating of dust which, even allowing for Spike's poor housekeeping abilities, would seem to suggest they had been there for a few days at least.
Which meant, that unless Warren had branched out into mass production with her bot as the blueprint - the drama queen robot who had been at her house for the past few days was none other than William the Bloody himself.
It was only the sudden taste of blood that broke Willow from her trance, as she realised she had taken her confusion out on her lower lip. Sucking distractedly at the small cut, Willow looked around and tried to decide what to do. She was close to her house, but she really didn't want to go there. She wasn't ready to face Spike, not yet anyway.
Instead she turned west towards the Magic Box. Maybe she could find a friendly face there, or at least a safe environment where she could try to work out what was going on, and what she needed to do about it. Willow had taken a few steps towards the safety of the familiar when she stopped again.
[So what? Now I'm scared to go home in case I have to deal with Spike? He's got a chip in his head! Mind games are about all he's got left now,] she decided as anger started to build. [He wants to play me? I don't care what his game is, or what he thinks he's going to get out of it, or what evil scheme he's planning. I don't care! It's time to take control,] the redhead decided as she again changed direction and headed for home. [If Spike wants to play Let's Pretend - fine. He can be Spikebot, and I'll be Vamp Willow,] the redhead decided with an evil grin.
Spike had killed her bot, and was playing her for a fool. It was time to let the Big Bad know he wasn't the only one who had a demon inside.
~Part: 23~
The front door clicked open, then was closed with a thud. Willow raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent. She was seated on the sofa, silently flicking channels with the remote control.
"Honey, I'm home," said a cheerful voice as a smiling Spike came into the room and sat down close beside her on the sofa.
[Show time,] Willow declared mentally before turning a stern face towards her companion.
"Where the hell have you been?" she demanded in a low voice.
Spike blinked, and she could almost hear the mental gears turning.
"I thought I should let you have your personal time," he said innocently. "I don't want you to feel crowded."
"Is that right?" Willow replied. "Cos here I thought that you wanted everyone to know about us, that you wanted me to make a commitment, and now suddenly you don't want to crowd me? Looks like you got some faulty programming, mm? Maybe I should take a look at that for you? Open you up to see if you haven't got some of your wires crossed?"
"Now don't be like that, pet," Spike murmured. "I was wrong last night to be so confrontational. You know I only want to make you happy, and I've realised that the things I said last night, well, those are your decisions to make."
Willow remained unconvinced. "Well, I agree you were wrong, but it seems to me that a robot should be a bit more stable than you. And all that wandering off without permission - not really the thing, is it? What if I needed you for something? Seems to me there might a few bugs in your system, maybe some damaged chips? No offence, but I think Warren might have gone for speed over quality when he put you together."
Spike blinked slowly as Willow continued to stare at him, as if already mentally pulling apart his circuits in pursuit of any faults.
"Well, I guess everyone deserves a break, even a robot," Willow finally said, ending the silence that had descended over the room. Standing up slowly, she flicked off the TV and dropped the remote onto the sofa. "Let's see how you go the next few days, and if I still think there are problems we'll put you on the table and take a look, alright?"
"OK," said Spike weakly, as Willow went and closed the curtains.
"I'm going to lock up down here," Willow said casually. "And I want you naked and in my bed by the time I get upstairs."
Spike froze, and Willow could only imagine what the blonde was thinking as he stared at her in shock. Carefully keeping her face smirk-free, Willow made a impatient tsk-ing sound. "C'mon bot, don't you want to make me happy?" she asked. At Spike's silent nod, she barked out, "Then get your arse upstairs!"
Watching with amusement as Spike clumped up the stairs, Willow wondered just how far he was going to let this go. It was going to be her personal mission to break that vampire; and the further he let it go - well, the more fun she planned to have. After all, being her obedient slave must go against just about every belief Spike had - so what was he going to do when he realised that she was serious about asserting her rights over her disobedient bot?
Whistling softly as she turned off the last of the lights downstairs, Willow prayed that her nerve would hold. [Just imagine it's Spikebot] she told herself firmly. After all, she had already had sex with Spike plenty of times without realising he was not the bot - she could do this.
Taking a few deep, calming breaths, Willow slowly climbed the stairs, walking along the corridor to come to a halt outside the bedroom door. Pushing it open, she saw Spike sprawled elegantly on the bed cover, completely naked and apparently relaxed, but with a watchful look on his face. [Looks like Spike is starting to smell a rat as well] Willow decided, but it also seemed that he was willing to let the game play out. All the more fun for her, she decided mischievously as she planned her first move.
Walking across the room, Willow kept her gaze locked with Spike's, stopping to sit next to him on the bed. Taking a moment to admire his lean form, she reached over to place her hand on his foot, enjoying the slight twitch that shook his body as her warm skin brushed against him. Keeping her touch light, Willow ran her hand slowly up his leg, letting her fingers follow the lines of his muscles, skimming his hip to float over his abdomen and chest before coming to a halt on his neck.
Willow rubbed her thumb gently over his carotid artery, noting the lack of pulse and wondering how strange it must be to live in such a quiet body, with no familiar thumping heartbeat to keep you company through the quiet hours of the night. Pondering briefly how different they were, Willow found herself losing interest in such matters as she let herself become hypnotised by the delicious sensation of his cool, slightly rough skin under her slowly stroking thumb, and she was further seduced by the almost imperceptible movement of his head as he arched his neck slightly, submitting himself up to her examination.
Glancing at his face, she saw that Spike's eyes had drifted shut, a look of blind pleasure on his face. It made sense that the neck would be an erogenous zone for a vampire, she thought, as she decided to investigate a little further. Leaning in, Willow let her tongue take over from her thumb, licking up and down Spike's neck, gradually growing more adventurous as she let her teeth graze his skin, sucking and nibbling as Spike started to shift against her, stretching like a cat as he groaned softly, obviously enjoying her ministrations.
With a final nip to the now reddened skin, Willow pulled her face away from Spike's neck and watched as he frowned, opening his eyes to see why she had stopped. Smirking to herself as she looked into his yellow eyes - [even Warren would have trouble with a design feature like that] she mused - Willow decided it was time to progress the game a little.
"Stand up," she told the still blinking vampire calmly. Spike continued to gaze at her blankly; looking down his body briefly, Willow decided the problem was one of blood flow - apparently not enough was getting to his brain to allow normal operation.
Grabbing his arm, Willow tugged as hard as she could. "Bot," she said with a hint of menace, "I said to stand up!"
Even as Spike forced a look of happy obedience onto his features Willow could see his eyes narrow. Waiting for him to follow her instructions, Willow then stood up next to him, saying, "Undress me."
Eyeing her speculatively, Spike again obeyed silently, making sure to include as much groping as possible as he slowly removed the redhead's clothes, dropping them into an untidy heap as he stripped off item after item, finally adding a pair of silky panties to the top of the pile and turning to face Willow, whose face was now flushed as she struggled to remain poised, no easy feat after having Spike's skillful hands all over her.
[This is the creature who murdered my Spikebot] Willow told herself firmly, determined to keep control of the situation - once she could get control of herself, anyway.
Sitting back down on the bed again, Willow pointed to the floor in front of her and said, "Kneel". Spike did so quickly, his face still showing curiosity but like her starting to enjoy the game too much to worry about where it was going.
Willow leaned forward and grabbed hold of Spike's head, pulling it between her legs gently as Spike took the hint and went to work, licking gently at the swollen lips and sucking on the redhead's hard little nub as Willow realised she was not going to last long. Giving herself over to the pleasures that Spike's skilled tongue was wreaking, Willow collapsed back onto the bed as Spike grabbed her thighs and widened her legs to give himself better access, using his tongue and fingers to great effect as Willow's body convulsed in orgasm, her thighs momentarily tightening around the vampire's head before she went limp.
Unsure of what he was supposed to do now, Spike played it safe and remained kneeling on the floor while Willow tried to catch her breath, her body still shaking as smaller tremours ran through her body.
Finally managing to regain her composure, Willow pulled herself back into a sitting position and reached under the bed to pull out the battered cardboard box that contained the Spikebot's hoard of sex toys. Under Spike's intrigued gaze, Willow rummaged through the box before pulling out a wooden paddle. Pushing the box back under the bed, Willow rested the paddle on her thigh as she gave Spike a speculative glance.
"Did I give you permission to leave here last night?" she asked Spike calmly.
A lot of nervousness crossed Spike's face. [Finally!] thought Willow.
"No," he answered slowly.
"You were disobedient last night, my bot, and now I am going to punish you. I am going to teach you how to be a good robot, so that you can please me, as you are meant to do."
A look of horror was growing on Spike's face. He looked from Willow's determined gaze, to the paddle, and back again.
"Come here, Spike," Willow said softly as she tapped the paddle lightly on her thigh.
Spike started to open his mouth, but quickly closed it again. His gaze seemed to be locked with a kind of helpless fascination on the slow movement of the paddle, as it bounced up and down on Willow's thigh.
"I said to come here, Spike. Don't make me say it again!" Willow tried to inject some menace into her voice, but it would be hard to say who was more surprised, her or Spike, when the blonde obeyed her command and moved to position himself so that he was stretched over the redhead's lap, his body resting on her thighs as Willow tried to remain calm.
[I can do this!] she told herself firmly, as she rested one hand on Spike's back, his body tensing slightly at the contact. And deciding that she had better just get on with it before she lost her nerve - or Spike's brain started working again - Willow raised up the hand holding the paddle and brought it down with all her might on Spike's exposed bottom.
The crack of the wood meeting unprotected skin filled the room, and before Willow had time to register anything expect the enormity of the sound she found suddenly pulled onto the floor, flat on her back with an enraged Spike kneeling over her, still with his human face on but a distinctly yellowish cast to his eyes. About to struggle, Willow realised that Spike had pinioned her arms with his hands and had locked his legs across hers, effectively preventing her from making any movement.
[Uh oh] Willow thought, before Spike's face began to descend.
Closing her eyes, the redhead prayed to any god that was listening for
a quick rescue. She was beginning to realise that maybe her plan
had a few flaws in it; but she had one hope left. [Please let the chip
be working] she chanted silently, as she felt Spike's cheek brush against
hers. [Please!]
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