Part 12:
Talking To Myself
In all his years, he’d seen many things. Fought many beings. Been both the villain and the hero. And yet, he had never been as scared as he was now, of the idea of being lost in Canada.
The map did him little good. It showed the basic territories, marked good fishing spots, and reminded the reader where the roads ended. And that was about it. No helpful X as to where he was. Not even a dot.
He explored the rest of the campsite, adding a pair of broken binoculars and a spoon to his collection of useless things. Satisfied, he continued on.
I must look bloody ridiculous, he thought to himself. He could feel the sun, sneaking up behind him. He looked up at the trees. Hypothetically, he could keep walking in their shadows.
Wearily, he trudged on. The sun rose. It grew warm. The hours ebbed together in infinite boredom. At one point he looked up, startled to realize he had tripped and was sitting on the forest floor. Have to stay focused. Have to get back.
Back to what? A voice in the back of his head taunted. You think she needs you?
She does, he argued. She loved me.
She lied…It sang. She doesn’t love you….she could never love you….
“SHUT UP!” Spike clutched his head between his hands, rocking back and forth slightly.
She doesn’t need you….She doesn’t need you….
“YES. SHE. DOES.” He stood up. Walked faster. He had to get back.
She doesn’t love you…..
He had to know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that day, Buffy wandered the roads of England. Tomorrow, she would go back home. But for now, she was free to see the sights.
Within an hour, she had confused herself beyond all reason in the multiple back streets of London. They all twisted and curved, and this map was wrong…. She turned into an alley. The shadows reminded her of something. She slowed her pace to look around. A tavern there. A parked taxi. She closed her eyes, letting her imagination guide her. If I walk up here, she mused, I will come out on a long, winding street. She felt herself walk back into the light. The drive will be up a way, on the right.
She opened her eyes. The alley turned, opening to a long, winding street. She was struck with the most ironic sense of déjà vu. She knew this. Up ahead, on her right, she could see gates to an old home. She approached them cautiously. Placed a hand upon the brick. Why did she know this?
Something about the bricks under her hand felt strange. She lifted it, looking. Something was carved into them. Letters. They were so worn she could barely make it out. She tried to trace the inscription with a finger.
“W…C…” She let her hand rest against the initials, pausing. And then she knew what they meant. She recoiled, looking upon the house in horror. She turned abruptly, crashing into an innocent passerby. Stumbling, she ran back to the alley. The alley. Oh, God. She kept running. She ran until she was completely exhausted, gasping for breath. She leaned up against a building, trying to regain her sanity. What’s the matter with me?
***It took him hours, but in the end he thought his craftsmanship was quite good. True, his pocketknife was scratched. Oh well. Ten-year-old William traced his initials with a finger once more before running back into the house.***
Buffy shook her head. But he wouldn’t let it clear. She turned, looking back down the street from which she came. What do you want from me?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This wasn’t working. He was walking in circles again. He knew this for a fact; he had whipped his blood on that tree three times now. He redirected his path in a different direction, determined. He was going to get out of this damn forest if it was the last thing he did.
He had never been one for being around people. Preferred his space. But now, he couldn’t concentrate. He needed someone to keep him grounded.
His eyes scanned the area, looking for anything to indicate he was going the right direction. “Right, Spike, you’re going to find a random sign telling you exactly where you bloody are.”
“Yup.” He nodded his head.
“You are such a wanker.” He frowned to himself. “No I’m not.”
“Then why are you talking to yourself?” He blinked. “Good point.” He rounded a bend, coming across a stream. Quite pleased with himself, he dropped down to his knees to drink. The water felt cold and refreshing as it slid down his throat. After quenching his thirst, he set about cleaning himself up. Always careful of the sunlight that hit the other side of the stream.
The sun would set again soon. Then maybe he could try to get out of these woods. He stayed at the stream, absentmindedly letting the water wash over his foot as he waited. Just then, a bird flew out of the trees. Spike, being lost in thought, didn’t notice until it nearly flew into him. He started, falling off his perch and into the water.
SPLASH
Slowly, he pulled himself up. And noticed he was lying in the sunlight. While swearing various profanities, he started to scramble back to his shadows. A moment later, he noted the fact he wasn’t bursting into flame.
Spike looked up at the sun for the first time in over two hundred years. “Well, this is interesting.”
Part 13:
Sunshine
Buffy looked out the window at the Atlantic Ocean. She sipped her iced tea, contemplating. They had been in the air for two hours already. When she got home, Dawn and Giles would pick her up from the airport. She was going to look into getting back into the slaying business. Just because I got thrown off the horse, she noted, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t climb back on.
But wait a minute. She’d gotten thrown off the horse? How? After all, we won. But winning came at a price. A high, painful price. A price she really hadn’t wanted to pay. Was that falling off the horse? Was loosing someone you love-
Okay. She was going to resolve this once and for all. It was bugging her too much. Wherever she went, it waited in the back of her mind. Didn’t matter what she was doing-it was consistently in her thoughts. Yes. She had loved Spike.
Had?
Okay. This might be more of a problem then she thought. Yes. She loved Spike. And it hurt like hell that he wasn’t here. But that wasn’t going to make anything better. It wouldn’t bring him back. Needing him wouldn’t bring him back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike squinted as the sun’s rays shone down on him. “Okay,” He said to no one. “What in bloody hell is going on?”
He decided to figure out exactly what had happened. He picked up a large stick, breaking it easily. Ok. The super strength was still in effect. Now, let’s see. You’re a stupid whelp, Spike, and no one will ever want you. He snarled angrily at the thought his mind had conjured up. Then he reached up, feeling his face. Hmm. Lumpy. Most interesting. A squirrel sat upon a log. He jumped over, catching it easily in his hands. It bit him. He shook his head at it. Sorry pal. You bite me, I bite you. Carefully, he sipped a little of the squirrels blood before setting it back down. He watched it slink away, mystified. I’m a sodding vampire who is immune to the sun?
“William.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy relinquished herself to the hugs of her sister and Watcher. It was nice to be back. Together, they went and got her suitcases. They walked back to Giles’s car, discussing the demon. And trying to think up the oddest punishment they could for Andrew.
After they got back to Buffy’s apartment, she sent Dawn off to do her homework. She had to talk with Giles.
“Giles?”
“Hmm?” He looked up from his cup of tea.
“I was thinking…Even with all the other Slayers now…maybe…there might be the occasional job I could do…”
He smiled at her. “Restless, are we?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I miss it. I mean, it’s who I am.”
He nodded, whipping his glasses off on his shirt. “I completely understand. And we will try to find you some local work. There are demons everywhere, you know. And you know there will be other instances such as this one. The girls will often call upon you for help.”
“So what, I’m clean up girl?” She wrinkled her nose. “When no one else can kill it, send in the Buffy?”
“Well…” Giles let his eyes slide back to the tabletop. “It’s not as if you aren’t good at that sort of thing.”
“I want my own place.” Buffy looked around the apartment, sighing. “I want my own…turf.”
He stood, walking over and looking down at her. “Don’t worry. We’ll find you something. But until then, you know you’re the only one who can really back these girls up. It basically like sending in a bunch of student teachers. They don’t know what they’re doing.”
She smiled at the image. Her brave little girls, cowering in a class of six year olds. Yeah. She’d take care of them. It’s what she was here to do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He whirled around. Before him, he saw the slight shadow of a girl. If you could call it a shadow; she glowed with the brightest light he had ever seen. Her hair fell down in soft waves around her small shoulders. He knew her-the girl from Heaven.
“Yes…?”
“I have come here, in hopes of explaining.”
Spike frowned at the girl. “What?”
“William.” She sighed. “You aren’t here for good. That’s not why we sent you back.”
He stared at her. No. That wasn’t true. It couldn’t be… “Then why the hell am I here???”
“Her.” She smiled. “Your Buffy. She is different than the other Slayers. She’s the one. The one who can restore balance to the dimensions. It is her destiny.” She stepped closer. “So you must prove yourself to be true. Prove that she cannot survive to fufill her life’s work without you. Prove that she needs you.”
“And if I do?” Spike raised an eyebrow.
“If you do, you will be allowed to stay.”
Spike smiled. This was going to be easy. He knew that little blonde better than she knew herself. “Ok. What’s the catch?”
“You cannot persuade her.” The girl watched his uncomprehending face. “You cannot inform her of this. You cannot force her to reveal her need of you. Only she can do that.”
Oh crap. Yes, Spike knew his Slayer. Knew her inside and out. And he knew she would never reveal such a weakness. It was physically impossible for her. He sighed, looking down at his feet. “How long do I have?”
“We will come again to make our judgment.”
“Yes, but when?”
She smiled sadly, and disappeared.
“Wait!” He cried out, searching for her. He’d forgotten to ask her the one question that was really, really bugging him. “Why can I go in the sun?”
Part 14:
She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not
Buffy and Dawn carefully examined the linen closet. After all, those sorts of things were very important. Satisfied, they turned back to the real estate agent.
“Now, it’s just you two girls, correct?” She looked back and forth between the two sisters.
“Yes.” Buffy nodded. “But we have lots of company.”
“Ah.” The agent smiled happily. “Perfect. This house has one bathroom, a spacious living room, two large closets, an immense kitchen, and three bedrooms. Two of those are upstairs, but this one…” She led the way into a medium sized bedroom.
Buffy looked around thoughtfully. This place was certainly a fixer-upper. The paint on the walls was peeling, and the tiles in the kitchen were stained. Besides those few setbacks, it was a fairly nice place. Plus, it was in their price range, making it perfect. She turned her gaze towards Dawn, searching for the girl’s approval before she said anything. Dawn grinned and nodded.
“We’ll take it.”
“Wonderful!” The woman broke into a wide smile, reaching forward to shake Buffy and Dawn’s hands. “Now, if you would like to come with me to the kitchen to sign a few papers….”
Buffy followed her, took a deep breath, signed the papers, and consequently started their lives over once more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike muttered unhappily to himself for several minutes before sitting down to think about what the girl had said. He had to prove that Buffy needed him. That she couldn’t survive without him.
Of course she can survive without me. She’s a strong bird. Doesn’t need anyone watching her back. Besides, he frowned a little; I didn’t even know she liked me until after I was dead.
He closed his eyes. He tried to imagine what would happen when they met again.
*** He saw her, standing in line for coffee. She was just there, before him, suddenly back in his life. “Buffy?”
She turned around, a confused look on her face. Then she saw him. Her eyes popped open, her jaw dropped, and she dropped her cup of coffee.
He rushed over, grabbing some napkins and bending down to help her. He looked into her eyes. “Hi.”
“Spike…” She cocked her head, looking totally amazed. She broke into a grin.
“Who are you?” A tall, muscular man with dark hair stood over them, watching Spike.
Buffy finished whipping up her drink and stood, grabbing the man’s hand. “Honey, this is Spike.”
“Spike?”
“Yeah…we used to work together.” She smiled a little at Spike as the man put his arm around her. “Good to see you, Spike.” They walked out.***
He whipped his eyes open in horror. No. That wouldn’t happen. She wasn’t like that. Or is she… No. She loved him. How do I know that? He sighed, and stood up again. The sooner he found her, the sooner he’d know.
What if I don’t want to know?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
knock knock knock.
Buffy jumped over the various boxes in her path to open the door to the apartment. She squealed as Xander and Willow suffocated her in a series of bear hugs.
“Oh wow, this is going to be so fun!” Willow grinned excitedly, looking around at all the stuff.
“Yeah. Fun. It’s always fun moving Buffy.” Xander rolled his eyes, accepting the gentle pummeling from Buffy.
“Come on. You know you love it.” She turned back to Willow. “Where’s Kennedy?”
“Waiting with Giles down at the truck.” She picked up the box closest to her, readjusting herself underneath its weight. “Let’s go!”
“Wait for me!” Dawn scurried out of her room, carrying two bags as she tried to catch up with the group.
They spent the rest of the afternoon loading the truck, and then unloading it at the new Summers’ residence. The house was small, but definitely cozy. It smelled of fresh paint, most probably explained by the fact they had spent all of the previous day repainting all of the walls. The hardwood floors were covered in scuffs, something that probably wouldn’t change, considering the inhabitants.
Everyone was pitching in, until Buffy could repay them. Her job at the Diner just didn’t pay the big bucks. However, she was looking into working at a local gym as a trainer. They had already bought the large, comfy beds that were a trademark of a Scooby residence, and the pull out sofa. After doing some counting, Buffy figured they could comfortably house eight people, if necessary.
Still, something was missing. She kept telling herself she didn’t know. She didn’t notice the lack of that certain something. Or someone. God, can’t I just get over it already? She sighed to herself. Fine. I know exactly what’s missing. It’s the cloud of cigarette smoke. It’s the shadow in the corner. It’s that god-awful sound of Doc Martins clomping down the hallway. After this little confession, she felt better. She went back to unpacking. But now that she had that in her head, it was hard to let go. She tried to imagine him in this situation.
*** “Oh for the sake of…” Spike stood up from his unpacking box, swatting at the packing peanuts that were sticking to his hands and clothing. Buffy looked over, giggling. He growled at her, smirking as he stalked across the floor.***
The rest of the Scoobies watched with bewilderment as Buffy unpacked the kitchenware, snickering to herself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He had been walking all day today. And the day before that. And the day before that. He was absolutely starving, and not just for the blood. He would have been happy with a Twinkie at this point. He stumbled around another bend, peering up over the horizon. There was something there. It was a….sign?!?
Spike sprinted up the incline to where the sign stood. Upon getting close enough to read it, he slowed his pace.
BIENVENUE A POVUNGNITUK
“Pov-ooh-n what?” Spike squinted at the signed. He pulled out his map. “Oh…blast.” He seemed to be, literally, in the middle of nowhere. There wasn’t even a bloody railway within a hundred miles. “Great. Brilliant.” He looked up at the sky, still squinting slightly. “You tell me to find Buffy, and you drop me in the middle of a bloody forest!” His voice echoed off the nearby canyon walls.
It was hopeless. He collapsed on a rock, crossing his arms stubbornly. If they wanted him to go to her, they’d have to move him themselves. He wasn’t taking another step.
There were some flowers a few feet from him. Daisies. He reached out, grabbing one by the stem. He looked at the pedals, remembering what so many children had done with such flowers. He plucked off the first pedal.
“She loves me.”
A second.
“She loves me not.”
A small pile of pedals formed in Spike’s lap. “She loves me….she loves me not…she loves me…..she loves me not….she loves me….she loves me not….”
He fingered the last pedal conscientiously. “She loves me.”
He slid the pedal behind his ear, and started his hike to Hudson Bay.
Part 15:
Choo-Choo Train
Spike lifted his head. He could smell the seawater as if it were blood. He was getting close. What exactly he was going to do once he reached the bay….well, he hadn’t quite figured that one out yet. It wasn’t important. It was the principle of the thing, really.
The trees were thinning. He could taste the salt in the air. Around this boulder, under that tree branch….and suddenly there he stood, on the edge of the forest. The land dropped away abruptly, to expose a pebble beach fifty feet below. He scanned the water. Nothing that he could see. Just miles of calm water. He stepped out onto the cliff, peering down. Hypothetically, if he jumped he wouldn’t break anything. Even so, he looked around for a less dramatic way to get down.
He walked along the lip of the cliff for about a mile, until he found a not-so-steep section of rock bedding. Cautiously, he began edging down it. Ten feet down, he felt himself start to slide. “Bloody…sodding….buggah….” He clawed at the surrounding rocks, trying to stop his plummet downwards. Alas, it was futile. He lost his footing, slamming into the rocks bum first before rolling the rest of the way to the bottom.
Wearily, he sat up, waiting for the world to stop spinning. That accomplished, he dislodged himself from the sharp rocks he had landed on, rubbing the various sore parts of his body. He gazed up at the path he had created. “Not the most graceful move you’ve ever made, mate.”
Just then, Spike heard something. He cocked his head, listening. He could barely make it out-meaning it wouldn’t be audible to the average human ear, and thus was probably miles away. It sounded suspiciously like a horn of some kind….
Choooo…..Chooo….
A train! He looked around wildly. It was approaching fast. Where the hell is it?
Chooo…..Choooo….
Near the horizon, Spike saw a very, very small column of smoke. Well, it actually wasn’t very, very small. It was just really, really far away.
Chooooo…..Choooo….
He caught the sight of the train in his peripheral vision. Maybe eight, nine miles down the bay, it emerged, running along the water for a half of a mile before turning away once more.
Chooooooooo…….
It was all he could do to contain his grin. He started running towards the railroad tracks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Buffy! What…How…I mean….” Xander came out into the yard, looking at Buffy quizzically. “When did you start smoking?”
She looked down at the cigarette in her hand, smiling a little.
“You know, those things can kill you.” He wagged his finger at her, attempting to take it away.
She dodged him easily. “That would be poetic irony, don’t you think?” She looked back out over the yard, taking a slow, long drag. “Fight the Baddies for seven years and end up dying from cigarettes.”
Xander cocked an eyebrow. “Come on, Buffy. Give me the cancer-stick.”
She glared at him, but let him snuff it out. “That’s okay…I only smoke them because I mi-… because I like the smell.” She turned her gaze to her feet, shuffling them awkwardly.
She heard him sigh. “Buffy.” He didn’t need to say anything else. She knew exactly what he meant. In that single word he had said Buffy why the heck are you so depressed over Spike I mean he was a vampire and he wasn’t all that good anyway and…
She didn’t care. She looked back to him. To her surprise, he offered her a little Comfort Smile. “Don’t worry, Buff. We all have our flaws.” He grinned an ‘I’m Kidding I’m Kidding Please Don’t Beat Me Up’ Grin. Funny how she labeled all of his facial expressions. She’d never even noticed before.
He watched her suspiciously for a moment, before holding out his hand. “Come on, I know you don’t have just that one.”
Guiltily, she pulled a pack from her back pocket. He slid it into his jacket, quite pleased with himself.
“Xander?” Giles stood in the doorway, holding a broken kitchen tile. Those two manly men were attempting to replace them. Attempting.
Xander rolled his eyes and went back inside. Once he was gone, Buffy reached up into her ponytail, dislodging the cigarette she kept hidden there. She lit it, watching the flame eat away at the end of the paper. Gently, she pressed the tip against the palm of her hand. She barley felt the pain as it imbedded a nice burn into her skin. She lifted her hand in front of her face, watching it turn red and swell slightly. She took another drag off of the cigarette. Slowly. Always slowly. She looked at her hand again.
“For you.”
She stomped out the cigarette and went back inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He stopped to lean against a tree, winded. The rails were probably a mile ahead of him still. He could get there before the sun rose again. Which doesn’t matter… That was really bugging him. He was a vampire- creature of darkness, hunter of the night and all that stuff. He shouldn’t just be lollygagging around in broad daylight. Didn’t fit his image. He kept going.
Soon, he was standing on the railroad tracks, as proud as if he had just destroyed evil once and for all. He’d found those railroad tracks, he had. He’d found them right and proper. Now, what to do…He looked back and forth a few times. The train was going in that direction. So there would be something in that direction, eventually. But it had come from that direction, meaning there was something over there as well….Hmmm. He consulted his map. It didn’t show any railroad tracks, and even if it did it wouldn’t have been any good. Well, lets see. There are more towns to the south. And I want to be heading south anyways. So if I can just figure out where south is… He cursed slightly as he realized he needed the sun to come up to figure out where to go. He’d never understood that whole ‘moss on the north side of the tree’ stuff. He sat down on the rails to wait.
He was really tired. Near to collapsing. He gauged he’d run a good ten miles to get here. And he hadn’t eaten anything since those marshmallows. So naturally, he fell asleep.
***He smiled as he felt her against him. She hummed slightly, dropping her cheek to his chest.***
Choooo…..Choooooo…..
***He started to sit up. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him back down with her. “Luv, don’t you hear that?” She smiled at him, gently kissing his ear.***
Choooo…Choooo….
***He frowned, pulling away from her again. “What is that?” She sat up next to him, shrugging. Then she leaned over and kissed him again. He forgot about the noise.***
Choooo….Chooo…
Spike sat up with a start to see a fast approaching train. “SHIT!” He scrambled to his feet, tripped, and crawled like bloody hell out of the way as the engine screamed passed him. A moment later, he slapped himself in the forehead. He walked back to the rails.
“Oh, you’ve got to be bloody kidding me.”
He leaned down, picking up the few irreparable scraps of map the train had left to taunt him.
“Great. Just great.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 16:
Viva Las Vegas
Buffy stopped on the sidewalk, spinning to view all the neon signs. Bright lights…Big city… She hummed happily as she twirled her skate. The Scoobies had thought it might be a good idea to send Buffy to Las Vegas for the weekend. They were right.
Now, the thought had occurred to her to gamble and drink and maybe even be involved in some illegal behaviors, but she wanted to start by killing a few roaming vampires. She could tell the minute she set foot on the strip that the creatures of night roamed freely amongst the people. It was just a matter of finding one.
Her head perked up as she heard someone scream. She bolted around the corner, really to stake whatever evil being crossed her path. She skidded to a halt as she took in the scene. A woman was being held up against the building, trembling. He was holding her lightly by the wrist. Strange, she thought as she approached. “Hey!”
The man’s head whipped around. And it was a man. Her eyebrows shot up. He growled at her, and even from where she stood she could smell the whiskey on his breath. She started to wrinkle her nose. Mid-wrinkle, she saw why the woman was cowering against the wall.
He had a gun.
She inhaled sharply, never taking her eyes from the pistol in his hand. He grinned at her, waving it teasingly. He steadied his hand, pointing it at her. “Cum ‘ere, gurlie.” Slowly, she walked towards him. She started breathing quickly, appearing terrified.
When Buffy was two feet from the man, she punched him in the face. His gun went off-she barely noticed. She took another step, pushing him to the ground. She winced a little. It felt like she might have stepped on a piece of glass or something. Oh well. She pulled the gun from him, glaring. He looked up at her, stupefied, before standing and running away as fast as his drunken appendages could carry him.
“Oh my god! Are you o…” The woman’s eyes bulged out of her head for a moment. “Oh, god. Okay. I’m going to get you some help, okay? I’m getting help…” She reached into her bag, grabbing the cell phone.
Buffy frowned. Huh? She looked around, befuddled. She started walking towards the woman. Her frown deepened as she slowly tilted her head down to look at her foot. Oh. She sighed, sitting herself down on the curb to wait for the ambulance. Gotta love Las Vegas…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Hello?”
“Um, hi Giles.”
“Buffy!” Giles smiled to himself. Dawn, who had been sitting next to him, looked over, interested.
“Um, I kind of need you to come get me.”
“What?” Giles stood up, walking into the other room. “Buffy, what happened?”
“Um…I sort of got shot…”
“What?!?”
“Well, only in the foot.” She explained quickly.
Giles let his breath out. “Good God. Alright.” He rubbed his forehead. “I’ll be right over. Where are you?”
She gave him directions to the hospital she was in. Now, all she had to do was wait for him to show up.
Wait.
*** “Good lord pet, what did you do to yourself?” Spike stood in the opening of the curtain, forehead wrinkled with concern. He walked over to the bed, looking the girl up and down. She seemed to be okay, save the gigantic cast encasing her lower right leg.
“I got shot.” She watched as he got that ‘Grr, I’m Going To Kill Whatever Did This To You’ look on his face. Nice to know he cared. He reached out, brushing a stray hair from her face. She smiled as his fingers brushed her cheek.***
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How did that one song go? Ah, yes… “I’ve been workin’ on the railroad…” Spike kicked a stone out of his path. “All the live long day…” He added a little skip to his song. “I’ve been workin’ on the railroad just to pass the time away-ay!”
He stopped short in his tracks. I do believe you’ve gone mad, Spike-er-ooh. Well, fine. He’d change his song. “I’ve got a lov-el-ey bunch of coconuts…de-dul-eey-de…” He wondered what Buffy would do if she could see him now. Probably start laughing. Or run in the opposite direction. Don’t bloody blame her.
He was absolutely famished. Everything looked like food. The tracks looked like licorice sticks. The rocks looked like biscuits. The clouds looked like cotton candy. The berries on that bush looked like-
At that point in his thought process he noticed the actual existence of food. He rushed over to the bush. There were tons of little red berries, just waiting to be eaten. He stuffed a few dozen in his mouth. Mmmmmm… He wondered why there were so many. They were pretty good, after all. Bloody miracle those little forest creatures didn’t get ‘em. He kept eating.
About a half hour later, Spike slowed his pace. He felt….funny. Cautiously, he walked further. The tracks ahead of him starting swirling. Soon, he was tripping over his own feet. He stumbled away to the bushes, heaving up his ‘delicious’ lunch.
Once he’d stopped throwing up, Spike set out to find some real food. As he following his steel path, he looked along the ground for nuts or plants…maybe even a squirrel. Didn’t really matter. Anything but those berries. He contemplated over a mushroom. To eat, or not to eat… With a shrug, he popped it into his mouth. And spat it back out. Ick. With a slight shudder, he gave up his foraging expedition.
As he went around another bend, something caught his eye. Blue tarps tend to do that, you know. Up ahead, where the rails came out towards the water again, there was a row-boat pulled up out of the bay, covered with a blue tarp. It looked as if it had been abandoned there.
He walked up to it, looking around suspiciously for it’s owners. He lifted the tarp, expecting some little furry thing to leap out at him. Instead, he found a piece of paper under a stone. “Hole in boat, use if you must.” Kind of a strange note. Oh well. He noticed the hole in the boat’s stern. After sizing it up, he tore a bit of his blanket off and secured it in the hole with mud. Satisfied, he drug it to the water.
He spent a good hour figuring out how to steer his new mode of transportation. It was hard steering with one oar, after all. He pushed himself out into the bay, determined to leave this place once and for all.
***Buffy watched, amused, as Spike tried to steer the boat. She crawled across the boat, sitting down in front of him. He shifted closer, placing the oar in her hands. He wrapped his arms around hers, overlapping his hands on hers as they propelled themselves across the water.***
“Don’t worry, Buffy.” Spike paddled faster. “I’m coming.”
Part 17:
Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder
Dingdong…
“Coming!” Buffy hopped up, grabbing her crutches and hobbling over to the door. She greeted a very concerned looking Xander, Willow, Kennedy and Dawn. Giles was in the kitchen, preparing some tea. They all went into the small family room.
“Buffy! What happened?” Xander gestured wildly to her leg. “I mean-did you-demon-grrr-pow!-yelp?” He paused in his reenactment of what he thought had happened.
“No.” Buffy shrugged a little. “Just your run of the mill crazy drunk guy.”
Dawn snuggled closer to her sister. “I’m glad your okay.”
Buffy smiled.
“So, that’s it?” Willow wrung her hands nervously. “No Big Bad? No apocalypse?”
“Nope.” Buffy shook her head for extra emphasis. “No end of the world today.” She saw the downcast look on her friends face. “Maybe tomorrow, though.”
“No, it’s not that.” Willow wriggled uncomfortably in her seat. “I just feel like the longer there’s no Big Bad, the bigger and badder the next Big Bad’s going to be.”
Kennedy smirked at Willow’s statement. She reached over, taking her hand in hers. “Nothing is going to happen.” She looked her deep in the eyes. “We took care of it. You took care of it.” She smiled.
Buffy watched the two with mild amusement. It must be great to love somebody like that. She let her fingers run over the mark on her hand. Too bad I’ll never know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike pulled the oar through the water effortlessly. He gazed around, noting the never changing scenery. Aren’t I on the bloody cost of Quebec? Why is everything all forest-y? Good lord. He was starting to sound like Buffy. Absence makes the heart grow fonder…
He turned towards the coastline again. There had to be something. Somewhere. He’d been paddling for four days straight. Or had it been five? It could have been a month at this point; the days all ebbed together. He even slept in this stupid boat. Damn uncomfortable, if I do say so myself.
He came upon a cluster of small islands stretched along the coast. Mentally, he debated whether or not to stop and try to find food. Eventually the more rational side of his mind won out, and he kept going. It wasn’t as if he needed the food, after all. Sure, it would be nice. And he was horribly hungry. But he didn’t need it the way he needed the blood.
He’d learned several things living on the water. One, fish are really hard to catch with your hands. Two, birds generally try to stay away from your boat when you jump out and swim frantically towards them. Three, further tearing of the blanket created a very spiffy net that had caught, upon various things, a shoe. Alas, there was no blood in the shoe. So now he had a shoe to throw at the birds. And, on one very joyous occasion, he’d hit a duck with his shoe. And when you hit ducks with shoes, they don’t tend to be very happy. This one didn’t tend to be very alive. He wetted his lips slightly, remembering the duck.
As he went around the island, he saw something in the distance. Not sure of what it was, he rowed faster. The sunlight reflected off of the water, blinding him. What the hell is that? A cloud passed overhead, momentarily blocking the sun’s warm gaze. He peered out over the surface of the bay.
“Boat.” He whispered to himself, blinking. He rubbed his eyes. “Boat. Boat!” He stood up, in his excitement forgetting he was still in his skiff. “Boat!” He shifted, causing the boat to rock and, thus, dump its passenger into the water. He surfaced, sputtering and whipping the water droplets from his eyes. “Boat.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She sat on the edge of her bed, painfully lifting her leg up onto the mattress. It was healing quickly, even for Slayer healing. Doesn’t mean it can’t hurt like a son-of-a-bitch, though. It was time for more painkillers. Oh well. She felt like being stubborn. She scooted herself up to her pillow, feeling around under it. She frowned. Propping the pillow up behind her back, she looked around her room. Her eyes lit up on the suitcase next to the bed. Using her amazing stretching skills, she grabbed it by the handle and drug it up next to her.
She dug around inside the main pocket. Putting the carton of cigarettes on her nightstand, she pulled out the dog-eared manila envelope. She opened the flap slowly, inhaling the scent of ink and paper and leather and cigarettes and peroxide all blended together into intoxicating cologne. Gently, she fingered the worn paper. She looked back to her cast.
No. She shook herself violently at the thought that surfaced in her mind. But she couldn’t help it. It was a voice from deep inside her, something she could not control.
Why couldn’t he have just killed me?
No. She was alive, goddammit, and she intended to stay that way. This scenario was too familiar. She sang quietly to herself. “I live in hell….” Why was it she fell in love with people who weren’t there? She had loved Angel more than ever after she’d killed him. She’d never loved Riley more than that day he’d gone away. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Damn. She’d thought she’d gotten past this. It’s been over three months, she told herself stubbornly. Now is not the depressed-weepy stage of mourning. Mourning? She cocked her head, brooding on the word. Mourn. Did she ever mourn? She couldn’t-she was the Slayer. Not the only one, granted, but still. She couldn’t be all weepy eyed in front of her troops. She had to be the strong one.
And they always let that fall to me. She looked down at the paper again. Everyone but him. It was ironic; the one person who didn’t think the less of her when she was weak and scared was the one person she felt like being weak and scared about.
She didn’t even wipe it away as the tear slid down her cheek.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 18:
Start Again
Spike jumped up and down in the water, waving his arms frantically. “Boat!” Realizing this wasn’t doing him any good, he got back in his own boat and started rowing towards the lumber craft. Luckily enough, it had stopped to pickup a load.
He drew nearer to the vessel. He imagined the expression on everyone’s faces when they saw him. Yes, he could see it now.
***Willow’s jaw dropped open as she sputtered a few words. Xander looked at him as if he was some sort of ghost. Giles dropped his glasses, raising his eyebrows and smiling a little. The girls all gasped, swooning. Dawn ran up to him, squealing. Andrew waved frantically. And Buffy stood back against the wall, just staring at him in that really creepy no-blinking sort of way. She opened her mouth, but couldn’t find the words to fill it. He walked up to her, never tearing his eyes from hers. “Miss me, love?”***
He could barely contain his grin as he pulled up next to the boat. I’m going home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“And it’s a gorgeous day here in sunny Nevada, with temperatures reaching-“ Buffy slapped the snooze button on her alarm, rolling over sleepily. Just a few more minutes. She tried to forget about having to go to work that day. It’s too much of a sleeping day to be a working day. Damn. She was wide away now. Angrily, she untangled herself from the sheets and stomped out to the bathroom.
After showering, she padded around her bedroom getting her stuff together. Stuffing her tank top and pants into her gym bag, she looked around for socks. She pulled on an oversized black T-shirt and jeans, grabbing a breakfast bar as she hurried out the door. Can’t be late today.
Hopping into the car, she tore out of the drive way while shifting through the morning radio shows.
“Hi, I’m Docter Bertha-“
“Grrrrrrreat new music, coming-“
“If ya wanna know, if he-“
“Nothing else can fix me even though-“
“Fake plastic trees are dead-“
“Hey little sister what have you done…”
Buffy scrambled to turn of the radio. Cocking her head, she noted this was actually a good song. She started bopping her head, murmuring the lyrics. “Who’s the only one…” Amidst traffic, she started pounding on the wheel and thrashing her still damp hair. Turning up the volume, she belted, “IT’S A NICE DAY TO START AGAIN!” She caught the irony in that, smiling to herself. She let her eyes drift out to the clouds, wishing things had been different. Nice day to start again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“How the hell did you get all the way out here?”
“Ah. Yes. Right.” Spike nodded seriously. “Horribly lost. I was camping. And a….bear…ate my….stuff.” He looked around uncomfortably. “I’d really appreciate the lift.
The captain looked him up and down suspiciously. Sighing, he turned to his crew. “Get this man some clothes, please.” Shaking his head, he went back to his cabin.
Spike smiled smugly. The smile quickly disappeared when he looked down at his new digs. Well, at least their clothes. Spike went off to the bathroom to change into his orange cargo pants and white muscle T. Someone, remind me how this is better than a blanket ‘round the waist.
He quickly noticed that this boat went a lot faster than his. Granted, there was an engine instead of one cracked oar, and it was a lot bigger… “’Scuse me…” He tapped one of the workmen on the shoulder. “Where are we going, exactly?”
“Fort Rupert.” The man said, never looking up from his job.
Spike suppressed the odd urge to giggle. Fort Rupert. Heh. “Right then.” He nodded several times to himself. “…Where is that, exactly?”
“’Bout five hundred miles south of here.”
“Bloody.” Spike shuffled his feet on the deck. “Anywhere besides that?”
“All the ports in between.”
“Ah.” Spike nodded again, walking away. He watched the water stream past them. The clouds overhead drifted by slowly. Always slowly. He sighed, momentarily content to be going back where he belonged.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy finished up with her last client just as the sun was setting. As she changed back into her street clothes, she sized up the other female trainers. I bet I could take her. Even a day of coaching didn’t make her miss the challenge any less. Eyeing the woman one last time, she headed out into the main hallway.
“Buffy!” A man turned, waving at her. She walked over, desperetly trying to remember his name. “Hi….”
“Kevin.” He grinned at her, shifting his bag to his other arm.
“Kevin. Right. Sorry.” She winced a little. “I have a problem with names.”
He laughed. It was deep, but not deep-evil-seductive-chuckle deep. Focus, Buff. She shook her head, looking back up at him. He grinned again. “I was wondering…I know you’re sort of new to the area, new to the job, maybe you don’t know all the best eating establishments in town.” He nodded seriously, his eyes glittering with wit. “I feel, as a fellow worker, it is my obligation to, perhaps, take you to one?” He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her response.
Buffy had one thought in her mind just then, and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at it. What a sodding poof. She heard someone saying, “I think I’ll have to pass, Kevin.” Wait…was that me?
He nodded, shrugging. “Maybe another time.” He winked. “See ya.”
She blinked as he went out the door. What the hell is wrong with me?
[“She needs a little monster in her man.”]
Buffy closed her eyes, trying to forget everything that had happened to her. “So much for starting again.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He lay on his back, watching the stars. Soon, he’d be with her again. Soon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 19:
Apocalypse
The sun rose slowly over the horizon. It’s beams spread out, catching the fluorescent vampire snoozing on deck. He mumbled something about ‘sodding peccadilloes’ and then rolled over. But the sun was too high in the sky now. He opened his eyes, squinting up at the sky. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this. He sat up, stretching.
The scenery had changed considerably. Instead of forests, other boats, docks, and plenty of fishermen surrounded them. How long was I asleep?
“Ah, you’re awake then.” A man approached him, speaking heavily accented English. “Untangle these.” He dropped a knot of rope into Spike’s arms.
“Where are we?” Spike clawed through the ropes, looking for the end.
“Fishing town, ‘bout seventy miles past Inoucdjouac.” The man took some tools out of his toolbox, fastening a fishing line to tow after the boat.
Spike frowned as he wrapped the rope around his arm. “Aren’t we going to stop here?”
“Sure, for fuel.” The man stood from his work, baiting the hook before throwing it into the water. “Then we’re out again for Fort Rupert.”
“Yeah.” Spike set his pile of rope to the side. “Is there any airport around here?”
The man frowned. “No….there’s a highway, and a railway that can take you down towards southern Quebec. There’s an airport ‘round there.” He eyed Spike suspiciously. “Where are you going?”
“Ca-“ He stopped. Oh, bloody hell. He’d forgotten. What if she wasn’t in California? Well, he had to check. “California.”
The man nodded. “Hope you have money with you.” He picked up the wound ropes. “Thanks.”
Spike bit his lip. He didn’t have any money. Not even for food. How was he going to afford to get back to California? Sighing, he bid a fond farewell to the captain and headed out into the village.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She looked up from the book she was reading to see the water in her glass shaking. “Odd,” she mused, trying to concentrate on her story. It didn’t help when the picture frame slid off the shelf above her bed and bonked her on the head. “Ow!” She rubbed her head, grumbling. She grumbled a bit louder when the whole house began to shake. She jumped off the bed and ran to the doorframe, watching her room implode upon itself.
“Buffy!” Dawn squealed from across the hallway.
“It’s okay, Dawn.” She shouted over the rumbling. “Just stand there in the doorway.”
The sisters rode out the rest of the earthquake in silence. As the house resumed it’s semi-peaceful state, Buffy went across the hall to make sure Dawn was okay. An earthquake in Nevada isn’t a normal occurrence. She went to the phone to call Giles. Damn. The phone lines were down. The girls climbed into the car, speeding around the cracks and miscellaneous items in the road.
Giles met them outside the door, a serious look upon his face. He hurried them inside the apartment, where the rest of the Scoobies were already sitting. Buffy looked at each of them in turn. “What happened.”
Giles sat on a chair arm, whipping his glasses with his handkerchief. “We’re not sure of anything yet, Buffy.”
She raised her eyebrows doubtfully. “The last two earthquakes we’ve been in have signified apocalypse, Giles.”
“No,” Willow corrected her quietly. “I mean, those two sure, but this last one was a…a good thing.” Her volume continued to decrease as she watched the expression on her friend’s face darken. “Well, not good per se, except for the whole saving the world dealie…”
Buffy shook it off. “It’s okay. I know what you mean.” She turned back to Giles. “But I doubt this was anything in the good.”
He shrugged. “I suppose we could look into it…”
“Ooh! Research time!” Xander rubbed his hands together eagerly.
Dawn smiled at him. “Can I help?”
“Sure!” Xander slung an arm around her shoulders jokingly. “What else are a mystical key and a construction worker good for?”
Giles nodded at the pairing. “Good. You do that. And Buffy-“
“Let me guess.” She tapped her fingers against her cheek, feigning concentration. “Go patrolling for any Big Bads?”
“Well, actually no.” Giles pointed at a quiet Kennedy sitting beside Willow. “Take Kennedy and go patrolling for any Big Bads.”
“Yes sir.” Buffy saluted, jumping up and grabbing Kennedy by the arm.
Willow waved as the two went out the door. “Be….careful.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He explored the town hesitantly, looking for a way to get money. Got to be some odd job around here for a bloke. Basically, there were….houses. A bait shop. Lots of boats. These people like fish, he mused. Ooh. A post office. He walked inside, looking for any Help Wanted signs that happened to be lying about. Finding none, he gave the shop a once-over. Noticing the pay phone in the corner, he approached the cashier. “’Scuse me, mam.”
The woman blinked.
“Wonderin’ if you could borrow me a quarter.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What for?”
Spike leaned against the counter more casually. “Well, I got horribly lost on our camping trip, and these really nice fisher-people gave me a lift here, and doggone it all I don’t have any quarters of my own to call my poor, sweet wife….”
The woman sighed and slid a quarter over the counter.
“….and little Billy and the puppy-“ He looked down at the money, straightening up a bit. “Right. Thanks.” He went over to the phone.
Canada…Quebec…U.S. He lifted a large phone book onto the counter. Come on, you better bloody be in here… Finding the number he wanted with a smug grin, he dropped his money in and dialed.
Pause
“…Yeah, it’s me.”
Pause
“Spike.” He smirked at the voice at the other end. “Yeah, I’m in a bit of a pinch….”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 20:
There Could Be Oil Of Some Kind Involved
Buffy and Kennedy walked quickly down the street. Not knowing this town very well, they’d decided to stick to the main streets in hopes of finding a cemetery or sewer entry somewhere. So far, no such luck. The closest they’d come was a run down gas station.
“It could have just been a quake, Buffy.” Kennedy looked over at the other Slayer. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be anything bad.”
“No.” Buffy clutched her stake tighter. “I could feel it. That wasn’t your run-of-the-mill plate-shift-y thingie. It was something else.” As if on cue, a vampire ran around the corner straight into the arms of the two girls.
Kennedy immediately delivered a swift kick to the vampire’s chest. As she yelped in pain, she said “Buffy- he’s got something…in his shirt…”
Buffy grabbed him by the collar, yanking him to his feet before her. Punching him, she reached inside his jacket. Sure enough, there was something. Pulling it out, she found a very old-looking book- except it was bound in some sort of metal. The vampire growled, lunging for the book. She staked him through the heart, still examining the book. She looked over at Kennedy as the dust settled. “Let’s get this back to Giles.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He stepped out of the gate and into one of the largest airports in the world. He stumbled out to the doors in his flip-flops, grumbling to himself. Real funny. Send me enough money for a plane ticket and then five dollars to buy shoes. Still, it was nice to know he was finally getting somewhere. Maybe. Now all he had to do was wait and see if the poof showed up.
Spike sat down on a bench, watching the people hurry past him. The sun had set long ago-the stupid whelp was just trying to make some sort of a point, surely. Haha. Leave me here with no bloody way of getting anywhere until he feels like being merciful to poor, pathetic Spike.
He looked up at the shadow that had stopped in his line of vision. Always have to be so sodding melodramatic. He turned his eyes up to the fixed glaze of his grandsire.
“Angel.”
“Spike.” Angel’s frown deepened. “Buffy told me you were dead.”
“Was dead.” Spike stood up, stepping closer. “Back now.”
Angel looked at him, confused. “How?”
“None of your damn business.” Spike started walking. Angel had no choice but to follow him.
“I think you’d know enough to be nicer than that,” Angel growled. “You should be down on your knees thanking me.”
Spike stopped in the alley. “Not much for that, really.” He staggered back as Angel punched him in the face. “Bloody hell!”
Angel came at him again, kicking him backwards into a dumpster. As he stood up, wincing, he remembered something.
[“One of these days I’m just gonna put you two in a room and let you wrastle it out…there could be oil of some kind involved…”]
He smirked despite himself, launching an attack. He managed to land a few decent punches before Angel knocked him back again. “What- did you bring me all the way here just to beat me up?”
Angel contemplated that, before nodding. “Yeah. Pretty much.” He kicked him hard in the ribs. “What do you want, Spike?”
“Buffy.” The word was out before he could even think about it. Angel lost it, vamping out and lifting him high over his head before throwing him into the side of a building.
“Don’t even think about it, pal.” Angel was on Spike before he could get up, pinning him to the ground. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a stake.
Even in this dangerous situation, Spike couldn’t help chuckling. “Oh please. You’re only being huffy because you know she loves me instead of you!” He let himself be slapped before continuing, a smug look upon his face. “And you can’t stand that.” He took the beating willingly, still smiling. “Look at yourself! All vamped out because your big, bad Buffy likes lil’ old me.”
Angel shook him by the shoulders, loosing his temper. “Stop saying that!”
“Why?” Spike lowered his voice to a whisper, forcing Angel to lean in to hear it. He took the opportunity to head butt Angel in the nose, forcing him to get off. As the older vampire cried out in pain, Spike jumped to his feet, and kicked the stake out of his hand. They faced each other, waiting.
“Go away, Spike.” Angel glared at him, letting his voice drop dangerously low. “Leave.”
“No.” Spike dodged the attempted punch, grabbing him by the arm and flipping him over. “Not until you give me what I want.”
Angel looked up at him, incredulous. “And why the hell would I ever do that?” He kicked him, sweeping his legs out from under him. He lay there a minute before standing up. Spike stood as well, silent. The vampires faced again, wearily. “Do you think I’m just going to let you go and ruin her life?”
Vamping out as well, Spike dove at him even before the words were all the way out of his mouth. Kicking him in the stomach, he punched him once, twice, thrice before Angel ducked out. He chased after him, jumping on his back. Angel dropped to the ground, trying to fight him off. Spike pulled off a bit, only to smack him again. He slammed his head into the ground before flipping backwards. Angel started to get up as Spike kicked him again. Angel kneeled on the pavement, gasping for air even though he didn’t need it. Spike picked up the stake, approaching the wounded vampire. He leaned over him, holding the stake against his chest and devamping. Angel stared at the stake, befuddled.
“Where is she.”
Angel growled at him, returning to his human form. “Even if I knew, I’d never tell you.”
“Wrong answer,” Spike whispered. He carefully pushed the stake against his skin just enough to hurt. “Try again.”
“I don’t know, alright?” Angel rolled his eyes. “So you can pull that stupid stake off me.”
He dropped the stake, grabbing Angel by the throat. “I really don’t want to kill you. Figure she wouldn’t be too keen on that.” He drug him to his feet. “And what with the soul and all, it wouldn’t be so great for me either.” He pushed him away, brushing himself off. He blinked a few times. “Does this mean I won?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy opened the door, walking in with Kennedy behind her. Willow jumped up from the couch. “Hi! Is everything okay? Did you find anything?”
“Hi, yes, and yes.” Buffy smiled grimly. She walked around Willow to Giles. “We found this.” She handed him the book quietly.
Giles turned the book over in his hands, looking like, well, a librarian who’d just been given a new book. “Extraordinary.” He lifted the cover, peering inside. “Where did you say you got this?”
“Some vampire.” Buffy shrugged.
“We were walking down the street, and a vampire ran into us.” Kennedy’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “Literally. He had that book hidden in his jacket.”
Buffy nodded. “So the book…”
“Must be important enough for a fleeing vampire to try to conceal,” Giles finished for her. He looked at it again. “It appears to be written in some ancient tounge…”
Willow peered over his shoulder. “Ooh! I recognize that!” They all looked at her, confused. “Um, one of my spell books.” She tried to explain. “I mean, back when I was practicing.”
Giles frowned. “Your spell book was written in this?”
“No.” Willow looked down at her hands. “It was part of a spell…a chant….I couldn’t decipher it.”
“Which book?” Giles started walking towards his new collection of books.
“It was a Book of Shadows Amy gave me…” She looked down again. “She said she’d gotten it from a very powerful witch.”
“And now it’s buried in Sunnydale.” Giles sighed.
“I could try to translate it,” She offered helpfully.
Giles smiled at her. “That’s quite alright. I shall enjoy the challenge.” He went over to the table where Dawn and Xander already sat, opening it again and paging through it. After a moment, he frowned. “Buffy, I think you might like to take a look at this.”
She walked over slowly, looking down at the page Giles had stopped on. On it was a crudely drawn figure with light streaming from an amulet on its chest.
“Spike,” she whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 21:
The Champion
They walked quickly through the silence, making their way back to his office. Still don’t understand what’s there that’s going to help. He moaned to himself as the wanker stopped again. “What now?”
Angel looked fiercely at him, as if staring hard enough might make the younger vampire combust. He sighed, realizing that wouldn’t help the situation any. “Why her.”
Spike blinked in confusion. He hadn’t expected that. He puffed himself up, defensive. “And what is that supposed to mean?”
“Why did you come back.” Angel raised his eyebrows. “For her?”
“Of course for her!” He exclaimed, exasperated. “It’s always for her.”
“Don’t I know it.” Angel shook his head, oddly enough relating to him. They kept walking. “I’d die for that girl.”
“Yeah, well I died for that girl.” Spike glowered at him. “You lost your chance, Nancy-boy.”
Angel grimaced. “I know. I’d do anything to just be with her again.”
“Well, you can’t.” He walked close to Angel, poking him in the chest. “You’re just going to have to accept the bloody fact that she’s not happy with you.” He smiled faintly. “You tear her apart, did you know that? I’ve never seen her cry so much as she’s cried over you. If you loved her you’d leave her be.”
“I do love her.” He protested, shoving Spike away from him. “Why else do you think I didn’t hang up on you the minute I heard your voice?”
Spike smirked. “Really now.”
Angel scowled. “She said…” He mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath.
He held a hand up to his ear, leaning forward. “I can’t hear you now, Angelus.”
Angel’s head snapped up. “She said you were her boyfriend in her heart,” He said in a clipped tone. “I don’t know what the hell you did, but it seems she isn’t wanting to kill you anymore.” He eyed him enviously.
He couldn’t help grinning. “Well now. Isn’t this a treat.” He shook it off, serious again. “Why are we going here?”
Angel led the way into the building. “A few months ago, couple days after the final battle, Buffy called to say she was okay.” He went into his office, digging through his papers. “I wrote down the phone number she called from somewhere…”
Spike looked over his shoulder. “How do you know it wasn’t from a payphone?”
“I don’t.” He stood, a post-it note in hand. “But it’s all I have.” He looked down at it thoughtfully.
He reached out to grab it. Angel pulled it back. “Come on now, really.” He held out his hand.
Angel looked down at it again. “If you hurt her I’ll kill you,” He whispered.
Spike took the post-it from his hand. “Guess I’ll be living forever, then,” he replied softly. He nodded at him, and left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BRRRING
Buffy stood up from the couch, walking over to the phone. “Hello?”
“Buffy?”
Her heart stopped. He sounded horribly worried about something. “What is it.”
Giles sighed into the phone. “I think I may have a little bit of the translation…you’re going to want to come over here.”
She nodded. “We’ll be right over.” She hung up, grabbing her shoes. “Dawn, come on.”
Dawn popped her head out of the kitchen. “Hmm?”
“We’re going to Giles’.” She went out to the car, barely waiting for Dawn at she sped off.
“From as far as I can tell, it’s an ancient form of Samarian.” He said, pointing out some of the words. “See, some of these characters have similar shapes and word structure. But there is an influence…” He frowned at the pages. “That is clearly older than any other language. Willow-“ Willow waved from behind him. “Has checked online all the ancient languages, trying to find a match. Like I said, it most closely matches Samarian. By altering a few of these letters to those in the Samarian alphabet they resemble, I was able to form a few sentences.”
Buffy frowned. “Such as…”
He pointed again to the picture of the man with the amulet. “From this part. I was able to get ‘to save them, the champion of heart’.”
“The champion of heart.” Buffy bit her tongue. “Spike.”
“Yes.” Giles nodded. He flipped ahead a few pages. “And here…it says ‘without something, it devours’.” He shrugged. “I don’t know what that one means.”
Dawn pointed to a word. “Here, that one looks familiar.” She stared at it. “It looks like one on the other page.”
Giles flipped back and forth, comparing the two. “Oh dead lord.”
“What?” Buffy inhaled sharply.
“That’s not what it says.” Giles studied the words. “Them…I was translating wrong. It doesn’t say them.” He looked up at Buffy. “It says her.”
“To save her, the champion of heart,” She whispered. “Without her, it devours?” Suddenly, she gasped. [“From beneath you, it devours…”] “Guys, this isn’t good.”
“I’d say not.” Giles sat down, Samarian dictionary in hand. “All we can do now is try to figure the rest out.”
“Great.” Xander pouted from the couch. “Why is it we’re always sitting around, waiting for the end of the world?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BRRING
“Hello?”
Spike gulped. “…Buffy?”
“I’m sorry, you must have the wrong number.” The lady went to hang up.
“No!” He clutched the phone tightly. “Buffy Summers. Did she used to live there?”
“I don’t know.” The woman sighed. “A lot of people move in and out of here.”
“Where are you, exactly?” Realizing that wasn’t the best way to phrase the question, he tried again. “Is it a hotel or something?”
“A rental apartment complex,” The woman answered. “Look, do you want the manager’s number?”
“Yes!” Spike dug around in his pockets for a pen. Finding none, he turned to a random passerby. “Can I borrow a pen?”
The woman gave him the number. After returning the pen, Spike dropped in another quarter.
“Hello.”
“Hi. I was wondering if you kept records of people who lived at your complex.”
“Why?” The man asked suspiciously.
Spike searched his brain for something clever to say. “Well, my sister and her friends sort of ran off awhile ago, and we’ve been real worried about them, thought they might have stopped there.”
“Name.”
“Bu-“ He paused. “She might be registered under Buffy Summers…or maybe Anne Summers?”
“Buffy Anne Summers.” The man read off his computer. “Yeah. Lived here for about a month and a half.”
“Great.” Spike looked around for that guy with the pen again. “Did she leave any forwarding information?”
“They all have to leave their addresses before they move out.” The man started to read it off. “One-wait. How do I know you’re not some ex-boyfriend out to kill her or anything?”
He rubbed his forehead. “I really need to find her, sir.”
“I can only give you the town.”
“Fine!”
“Paradise, Nevada.”
“Thank you.” Spike hung up, quite pleased with himself. Now all he had to do was get to Nevada. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he found a wad of cash. Odd… With a shrug, he put the money back in his pocket. Paradise, here I come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*** She was swimming, gasping for breath. The current pulled her under, tossing her against the sharp rocks and coral. She struggled, trying to kick her way back to the surface. The darkness crept up behind her, enveloping her in its lurid embrace. She tried to scream; more water filled her lungs. She felt herself slipping. An arm plunged into the water, grabbing her and yanking her to safety. The moonlight reflected off of his hair softly, as he pulled her into his arms. “Don’t worry, luv.” He ran his fingers through her hair, slowly. Always slowly. “I won’t leave you.”***
She sat up, startled. She’d fallen asleep. Looking around, Buffy realized she hadn’t been the only one. Dawn was conked out beside her. Xander was snoring loudly on her other side. Standing up, she realized even poor Giles had fallen asleep on top of his books. Willow sat at the table, jerking as her head fell forward. She’s be out soon. Kennedy was sleeping curled up in a chair on the other side of the room.
Buffy walked up behind Giles. Before him, he had the book, along with a notebook filled with rough translations. He had progressed significantly before crashing, she discovered.
“To save her, the champion of heart will rise. Dark will lighten and the world will be anew as it never was.” She carefully pulled the notebook out from under Giles’ arm. He had finished the other sentence, too. “Dark is held as long as light remains; without her it devours.” She shuddered. There was more. He had started on a new selection; between the two he had. Her blood ran cold as she read it. “Without heart, she will fall.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Part 22:
Always Slowly
The loose gravel crunched underfoot as he lightly stepped off the bus. Welcome to Paradise, Nevada. He paused, closing his eyes and letting the other passengers brush past him. She was here. He could sense it. Every inch of his skin was alive with exhilaration and adrenaline. He took a cautious step, feeling her presence all around him. Another. Another.
He strolled through the thinning crowd down the street. Buildings, shops on either side. The residential areas were further ahead. The wind blew through his new duster, chilling him despite his excitement. Where are you?
Round another corner. The shops were starting to close. The sun was setting, cooling the dry, hot air. He let his eyes run over the unfamiliar faces, searching for the blond hair and petite figure. He slowed his pace outside a coffee shop, peering inside.
A young, dark haired man stood waiting for his order. Spike frowned, squinting at him. Xander? He turned, taking the drinks and walking towards the exit. He never even saw the woman on his left as he brushed past her. Well I’ll be… Spike smiled as Xander stepped out and walked to a parked car. He leaned against the building casually, watching as the car pulled away. With a smirk, he trailed after it slowly. Always slowly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy wrung her hands nervously. “What does that mean? Without heart, she will fall?” Try as she might, she wasn’t as good an actress as she hoped. She knew exactly what it meant. ‘The champion of heart…without heart, she will fall.’ No. He’s gone. There’s nothing I can do about that. I can’t need him. I can’t. She shook her head.
Giles ignored her question. They had spent all day working on the translations, after having slept here the night before. Triumphantly, he finished the last few lines of translation of the first chapter. “Buffy.”
She read over his shoulder, aloud. “Into each time before one was sent to save the world. One to balance the forces of light and of dark. Among them, there will be one unlike the rest. The One. She is the way to maintaining the balance for which they have fought. She will be beyond goodness or evil. To save her, the champion of heart will rise. Dark will lighten and the world will be anew as it never was. He will give himself to save them all.” She straightened. “It’s a prophecy.”
“Yes.” Giles stood. “And so far it seems to be accurate.” He walked around to the center of the room, his eyes still locked on Buffy. “This ‘One’ has been prophesized before. It was always more of a myth, really.” He sighed. “Based on legend, it in itself is the cosmic balance. The-the key, if you will, to ultimate control of good and evil.” Smiling slightly, he approached her. “Apparently, it’s you.”
“Me?!?” Buffy squeaked. Collapsing into the couch, she let herself be comforted by Dawn, Willow and Kennedy.
“Hey, that’s not so bad.” Willow sat down beside her. “I mean, you were always the Slayer before. Now you get to be a…a Slayer with benefits!”
“Yeah.” Dawn wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “You can do this-I mean, it’s not so different from what you were doing before...”
She whished she could believe them. They all thought she was this super-strong person who never felt like giving up, never felt the pressure of everyone depending on her. What would they think of me, if they knew? She had to be strong for them. There was nothing else for her to be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dammit. Even with his super-natural speed, there was no way Spike could successfully chase a car going fifty miles an hour. He could try, though. Which is how he ended up standing in the middle of a street amongst a bunch of houses that looked exactly like each other. This is bloody ridiculous. He could really go for a smoke right now. Too bad there weren’t any gas stations around. She’s got to be around here, somewhere. I can smell her. He smiled to himself. She hated the whole vampire smelling thing. Didn’t make it any less true, though. There was just enough vanilla and jasmine and roses in the air to make him loose his mind. He walked faster.
The whelp turned…somewhere up here. He looked down the street as he crossed it. They all looked the same. The car had turned, he was sure of it. So why were his senses leading him forward?
“William.”
He didn’t even pretend to look surprised as he turned to face her. “Hello again.”
The girl smiled softly at him. “William, you know what you have to do.”
Spike nodded. “Yup.”
“You cannot inform her why you came back.”
“I know that.” He blinked at her, irritated. “Can’t tell the girl I love I came back because she needs me. Got that message.”
The girl smiled again. “Good luck, William.” She started fading out, slowly. Always slowly. “There will always be a place for you with us.”
“Won’t need it, love.” He whispered to the night. He was alone again. Suddenly, he knew exactly where he was going.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Buffy, maybe it’s best for you to go home.” Giles looked up, nodding to Xander as he came through the door with the coffee. “I can call you if I come up with anything else. You and Kennedy should really be resting up, in case whatever this thing is decides to show itself.”
“He’s right.” Kennedy nodded from behind Willow. “You go home, and I’ll do another sweep of the streets.”
“I’m coming with you,” Willow said quickly.
Kennedy smiled.
Buffy stood up, reaching for her jacket. “Thanks. But we don’t know what’s out there.” She turned towards the two girls. “If we do any patrolling it should be all of us.”
Willow frowned. “Buffy, we’re okay. We don’t even know if there’s anything out there.”
“I agree,” Giles offered from the kitchen.
“Look, Buff.” Xander set down the drinks and walked over to his friend. “Go home, relax, watch cheesy old movies. We’ve got this covered.”
Buffy looked around at all of them reluctantly. Finally, she pouted good-naturedly. “Fine. Don’t let me have any fun.” She headed towards the door. “If you guys are sick of crashing here, I’ve got that spare room.”
“We might drop by later,” Willow replied, non-committal. “Bye…” She waved as Dawn and Buffy slipped out the door.
“Can I drive?” Dawn stood by the car eagerly.
“No.” Buffy got in and started the engine. Dawn sulked around to the other side, slamming the door as she sat down. “I know how to drive, Buffy.”
“I know.” Buffy pulled out onto the street, heading for home. “I’d just…rather….not have you drive now.” She went out onto the main street, barely taking notice of the man walking alongside the road. “You never know what you might encounter driving at night.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike’s head snapped up as a car drove past him. That car…. His jaw dropped in surprise as he recognized the scent. Buffy. And not just Buffy, he realized with a start. Niblet? He watched as it sped off out of his view. He broke into a jog, following his girls.
He’d run up the driveway, collapsing on the front porch. One of them, probably Dawn, would open the door, and scream his name. Buffy would come out, speechless. No, Spike corrected himself, She’ll be crying. Wait-I don’t want her to cry… He tried again. He’d run up the driveway, knocking on the front door. Buffy would open the door, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Spike?” She’d whisper, her eyes watering up. He’d kiss her, and then… Spike grinned at his little fantasy and ran faster. He let the sound of his boots hitting the pavement coincide with her name. “Buf- fy Buf- fy Buf- fy…”
Okay. He had it now. He’d run down the street. When he got to her house, she’d be sitting on the porch. He’d walk up to her, slowly. Always slowly. She’d look up, a smile breaking on that gorgeous face. She’d jump up, and run down to him, leaping into his arms. She would wrap her arms around him, as if he might float away if she didn’t hold on to him. She would kiss him as if it was the last kiss they’d ever have. She’d love him the way he’d always begged her to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She pulled into the garage, turning off the lights. Dawn jumped out, darting for the front door with the keys. Wearily, Buffy walked out onto the driveway. This can’t be real…I can’t be… She dug around in the pockets of her jacket, frowning. As much as the Scoobies, Xander in particular, criticized her, it had become a habit. She stared at the cigarette in her hand. Much as she hated to admit it, she only smoked them because it reminded her of him. And right now, with literally the entire universe resting on her shoulders, she wished he were there with her. Without heart, she will fall. She lit the cigarette, blowing the smoke out above the yard. It really is a horrible habit. I should stop. She took in another drag, slowly. Always slowly. She shivered as the phrase slid into her mind. Shrugging, she dropped the still lit cigarette onto the pavement and went inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He skidded to a stop on the street corner. Closing his eyes, he turned right. The car had gone right. Buffy had gone right. Right? He peaked out to see what lay before him. Small, older houses on either side of the road. A sidewalk. He took a deep, unnecessary breath. Now or never, Spike. This is what you came back for. Can’t get all bashful now. He started down the sidewalk.
The sky was completely dark now. Any little kids playing outside had long since been put to bed. Even the dogs were within their homes. The street was quiet. Quiet except for the light clomp, clomp of new boots against the concrete.
His heart, after being silenced for over one hundred years, felt like it was about to burst. He slowed his pace, trying desperately to control his breathing. As he went around a slight curve, his gaze settled upon a small house. He knew instantly it was hers. Whether it was the draperies in the window or the small garden gnome placed jokingly in the lawn, he wasn’t sure. But it was hers.
He approached it slowly, as if it might explode should he walk too fast. Always slowly, he noted. It’s always been slowly. The irony wasn’t lost on him.
Spike stepped onto the driveway. He noticed a lit cigarette lying alongside the grass. Gingerly, he bent over to pick it up. He took a puff, looking down at it with astonishment. “She smokes now?” he whispered quietly to no one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dawn walked over to the front door, starting to open it.
“Where are you going?”
Dawn looked over at her sister, who was watching from the doorway. “I just thought I’d go outside for some air, that’s all.”
Buffy raised an eyebrow at her. “Sure.”
“I swear-I just want to go for a little walk.”
Buffy smirked. It was something she’d been doing a bit of, lately. “It’s dark out.” She tossed her the cell phone. “Be back in ten minutes.”
“Okay.” Dawn turned happily and went out the door, humming to herself. Absent-mindedly, she looked around. She screamed as she saw the dark figure standing on their driveway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spike jumped as he heard the shrill screech of a Summers girl. He took a few hurried steps towards her. She backed away, her scream still piercing the night’s air. “Dawn?”
Her head snapped up, recognizing the British accent instantly. Her jaw dropped as she raised her gaze slowly to his concerned face.
“Dawn?!?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buffy ran outside, standing on the porch as she cried out her sister’s name. “Dawn?!?” She darted down the stairs to the driveway.
Buffy stopped so suddenly she may as well have run into a wall. Her eyes locked on the boots on the driveway. Slowly, she lifted her gaze. Always slowly. Dark pants, met by the edge of a dark colored duster. Hands with skin the color of flour. Broad chest covered by a warm looking sweater. And bleached hair, though so far grown it was hardly blond. She gasped as her eyes connected with his. Her lower lip trembled slightly. “Sp…Spike?”
Spike smiled as she stood there, speechless. Please Buffy, don’t cry. He took a step closer to her. “Buffy.” The word came out more like a sigh than the name of the one person that meant more to him than anything.
She let the tear roll down her cheek. He’s not dead…he’s not dead… Abruptly, she walked down so she was standing right in front of him. “Spike.”
He reached up, whipping the tear away with his hand. She smiled, never tearing her gaze from his. He leaned down, closing his eyes and lightly brushing his lips with hers. Finally.
As the kiss ended, Buffy threw her arms around his neck. Don’t leave me. She buried her face in his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
He pulled her close, breathing her in. God, that smell… He was never letting go of her again. “I love you,” He whispered quietly into her ear.
Buffy pulled back, resting her forehead against his. She smiled at him, slowly. Always slowly. “I love you too.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~