Title: ‘tis awful a day to die

Author: Gemma

Rating: PG

Summery: Spike is haunted by an old spirit who seems to know the truth about him. But will the Scoobies listen to the voices in the wind?

Disclaimer: I own nothing here but the story. Everything else belongs to Joss Whedon and co.

Spike was surrounded by a group of repulsive looking demons. Their white skins and purple eyes, and blue jelly like substance covering their bodies. Spike was tired and he didn’t feel like fighting. There were five of them and they had already beaten Spike up pretty badly. His lip was split, his eye was blue and his arm was broken. He was a mess. He tried swinging at them with his other arm, but he hit nothing but air. He closed his eyes as one of the demons drew a sword, and waited for the final slice…Nothing.

He opened his eyes and saw all five of them being thrown around by an invisible force. The thing dispensed of them quickly and left their bodies lying around on the floor.

Spike tries to get up but the invisible force restrained him,

“I know what and who you are.”

It said in a low and masculine voice, as if it was speaking in a whisper.

“And they too will know.”

It’s voice was scratchy and Spike sighed in relief as he felt the pressure get off of him. He looked around but he could see no one,

“Hello? Who are you?”

Spike waited for an answer from the ghost, but got quite a different one,

“Spike? Who are you talking too?”

Spike saw Buffy standing in front of him with her hands on her hips. Spike sighed again and began to laugh,

“Never mind Slayer, I think I’m going mad.”

She glared at him,

“Well I’d be happy to put you out of your misery if you want.”

The smile disappeared from Spike’s face,

“Right, sorry Slayer. I’m leaving now.”

He stood up and felt the pain searing through his leg. He moaned by limped away, with more than his body wounded.

Spike hadn’t slept that night; he kept hearing that voice in his head, repeating the same words over and over again. But the words weren’t in his head. They were in his crypt and he heard footsteps right next to him, but could see nothing. He felt hands on his back shoving him forward towards the door, he felt cold breathing in his ear. He had lost things that he had just put down. He could hear the ghostly laughter coming from other rooms.

He was freaked. He was afraid. He stood up and kicked the table in frustration and made the lamp fall to the ground with a loud shatter.

“Bloody fucking hell!”

He shouted jumping up and down in pain. He jumped up when he heard his door burst open upstairs,

“If that’s you, you freak, leave me the hell alone. I don’t care what you know and who you’re gonna tell. Now bugger off.”

Spike waited and shrank away as Buffy and Dawn walked down the ladder and met him. Dawn looked worried, and so did Buffy,

“Spike? What’s wrong?”

Dawn asked,

“Who were you expecting?”

Spike shook his head and placed his head in his hands.

Buffy gasped when she saw that his hands were shaking, he was afraid and she knew it. He took a deep unneeded breath and with a fake smile he faced them. Buffy knew something was wrong, but she wouldn’t point anything out. Dawn smiled and walked up to him,

“Spike?”

“I’m fine.”

He said harshly, and then immediately regretted it. She looked at him hurt,

“Well you don’t have to bite my head off.”

Spike sighed but his entire body straitened out like wood, as the ghostly hand ran its fingers down his spine.

Dawn saw this and furrowed her brow,

“Spike?”

Spike couldn’t handle it anymore; there was one thing he couldn’t stand. And that was an invisible ghost fucking with him.

He whipped around and sent the couch that was behind him flying into the wall,

“Leave me alone!”

He shouted into thin air.

A little laugh sounded in the air and Spike clenched his fists.

Dawn was about to cry, she had no idea why he was acting like this. But Buffy did, her trained ears had heard the laughter in the air. Something was after Spike.

Spike looked at Dawn,

“I’m sorry Bit, I’m just not too happy today.”

Spike needed to calm her down, he needed her to be safe. And she wouldn’t be as long as she was around him,

“Listen Bit, I’m kinda busy today. How about you come back some other time?”

Dawn nodded quietly,

“I’m sorry if I annoyed you Spike.”

She said as she turned to leave. His heart broke and he reached out to her and gave her a hug,

“It has nothing to do with you Sweetbit. I just need to be alone.”

She sniffed and smiled at him,

“Well, maybe I’ll see you later.”

She walked up too the ladder and climbed up. Buffy looked at Spike, and suddenly felt proud of how brave he was being. She smiled and walked up to follow Dawn.

Xander lay in his bed with Anya lying next to him. There wedding was in a few weeks and he was afraid. He heard whispering and figured that it was just Anya talking in her sleep. Something grabbed his hand and he jumped to see Anya sitting up looking at him,

“He is more than you think. He is not evil, he would die for you. And you treat him like shit, you deserve to die.”

Xander looked at her as if she had grown another head. The voice wasn’t hers. It was a mans voice, and old and ghostly voice. It possessed his Anya. He slowly got out of the bed and watched her as she laughed,

“What’s the matter? You girlfriend knows it, the key knows it. What’s wrong with the rest of you. You never even took the time to get to know him. You just write him off as another thing. You are wrong and someday it will come to an end for you. And I’ll be there waiting.”

Anya dropped to the bed and her eyes shot open,

“Xander, I had this dream…”

She knew it wasn’t a dream from the look on his face. She felt a tear come to her eye,

“I’m afraid Xander. It was upset and angry. It felt depressed and it scared me.”

Xander sat on the bed and wrapped his arms around his fiancé.

“It will be all right, it’s gone now. We’ll tell Buffy and see what she says.”

Willow and Tara sat on the couch watching the discovery channel, it was about penguins and both girls were interested. The TV changed channels and Willow grunted,

“I was watching that.”

Tara looked alarmed,

“I thought you changed it.”

The girls looked at each other and changed the channel back. It was fine for the few minutes and the girls settled back into the couch. But once again it changed.

The girls looked alarmed and jumped off the couch and began to back away towards the door but and invisible force stopped them,

“Don’t leave, we were just gonna have a little chat, so sit down.”

The couch slid across the room and knocked into their legs, sending them falling into it.

“Now, you, like the others do not appreciate him. He has been there for you in the past and present. Why do you hate and torture him so, he feels love and kindness towards you. But I can only see hate and revulsion towards him. He was there the day Glory died. Fighting along side you. He nearly died trying to help you. And all you did was sulk over the death of the Slayer. True, a death is more than pain, but he deserved it. He blames himself for her death. And not one of you have let him think otherwise.”

Each girl felt a cold hand on their throats, and each began to choke as the hand tightened its grasp,

“I will kill for him to be happy, as he did for me. He too is afraid of me, as I use him. As I tell him things and torture him as you do. But I shall never hurt him. He has felt enough pain.”

The hand let go and they felt the presence leave the room,

“What was that?”

Tara asked,

“I don’t know.”

Answered Willow.

Spike was relieved. The ghost hadn’t done anything in a while, and he was hopeful that it was gone.

He sighed and sat down on his couch with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of Vodka in the other. He was still freaked, the ghost was torturing him and he didn’t know how to stop it.

“Feeling better Spike?”

Its voice arose again and he felt chills down his spine,

“What do you want with me?”

He asked it.

It began to laugh,

“I want you to be happy.”

Spike laughed evilly,

“Pretty nice was to go around it.”

The ghost laughed a little girls laugh and he furrowed his brow,

“I thought you were a man?”

The girly voice giggled,

“I was disguising my voice to scare you and your friends. Do you not recognize my voice William?”

Spike felt a tear come to his eye,

“Catherine?”

The girl giggled again,

“Yes William, I have come to help you. They will pay for hurting you.”

Spike stood up and looked around,

“They?”

She giggled once again,

“Those people you call Scoobies. They hurt my brother and now they will pay.”

Spike ran his fingers through his hair,

“They’re my friends, you can’t hurt them.”

He heard her sigh,

“Do you not see? You are here for their entertainment. You are their puppet, they pull your strings.”

Spike was a little angry now,

“Don’t you dare hurt them Catherine, they might not like me, they might even hate me. But they are all I have.”

She scoffed,

“I liked you better when you were human. You were sentimental, but you at least had a soul for a reason. Now you do not have that. I think the Slayer must be blind not to see how you have changed for her.”

“You know about the Slayer?”

Spike asked embarrassed.

“Yes Spike, is it? I have been here since the beginning, since I died. When you died. Always here, watching.”

“Then why only show yourself now?”

Spike asked.

“You only needed me now. You blamed yourself for her death I know. But it wasn’t your fault. It was her decision to make. You need to get back at them for hurting you William.”

Spike shook his head, it was spinning,

“No Catherine. I need them. You might not understand that. By the way, are you a vengeance demon or something.”

She giggled once more,

“No, I just want my big brother to be happy, and I’ll do it at any cost.”

Spike felt a tear come to his eye,

“Catherine…”

She giggled,

“I’ll see you later William.”

He closed his eyes, and wept.

Buffy sat the next morning in her sitting room, surrounded by her worried friends,

“This ghost guy possessed me.”

Anya moaned.

They were all moaning and grumbling when a flaming blanket fell through the door. Buffy had to laugh at Spike as he stomped on the blanket to get the flames out.

Xander glared at him,

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Spike was about to say something when Xander was lifted into the air by an imaginary hand.

Spike jumped to the sitting room,

“Catherine no!”

He shouted.

The hand let go of Xander and they all stared at him.

“But William…”

Spike looked angry,

“I told you to leave them alone Catherine.”

All the Scoobies stared in confusion as they heard the voice of a little girl,

“William, he wishes you dead. He must be punished.”

Spike rolled his eyes,

“Listen, I know he wants me dead, I know they hate me, but no more hurting them okay.”

They heard the little girl begin to cry,

“William, why do you let them live? They hate you, but I loved you and I died. I don’t see the logic in it.”

They listened as Spike’s voice softened as they never had heard it,

“Catherine, I loved you so much. I tried to save you…but-but they were too strong. I’m sorry you had to die, but do not punish them for my mistakes.”

The Scoobies were confused, Spike knew the ghost?

“Catherine, I never had seen them before. I did not know demons existed back then. I was afraid. I was too weak and pathetic as you said before. I was a coward, but because of that, I got you killed. Not a day has gone by when I do not curse myself for it. You were only 7 and had an entire life ahead of you. I was 19, but you had more courage than I. I tried to fight them, but they threw me into a wall. I was too scared to get up. I am so sorry Catherine.”

Spike felt tars in his eyes, and he let them fall down his cheeks as an invisible hand wiped them away,

“William, I know you tired. I have never blamed you. I have stayed by your side for all these years, and only felt myself tell you I was here today, because I want you to be happy, as I could never have been. I wanted you to have the life I lost, but I let my anger blind me. Forgive me brother.”

Spike saw her image appear as he had last seen her, long, black and curly hair, tied up with red ribbons on her head. A face like an angel, so serene and innocent. Blue eyes like Spike’s, deep and hypnotizing. She held a small porcelain doll in her arms, and a red dress clothed her.

She hugged Spike and kissed his cheek,

“I love you William. And I hope that one day she will realize your love, and let herself love you back. I will always be with you.”

Spike let the tears flow freely,

“I love you Catherine, I’ll always love you.”

They let go of each other and she turned to face them,

“I am sorry for hurting you all, I just wanted my brother to be happy. I hope you will not blame him for these misfortunes as they were my fault and I apologize.”

She walked over to Dawn,

“Thank you Dawn, for being there for him when I was not. You look after him and keep him out of trouble for me.”

Dawn nodded and smiled,

“I will.”

She turned to Buffy,

“And you, you should learn to listen to those voices in the wind. They know what they are talking about. He loves you, and I know your secret. Give him a chance, he deserves it.”

Buffy smiled at the little girl,

“I will try.”

The little girl smiled at the rest of them,

“Goodbye, and I an truly sorry.”

She turned to Spike, blew him a kiss, and disappeared.

Spike smiled and caught the kiss and stuck it in his pocket.

The last they heard of the little girl was a quiet giggle which drifted in the wind.

Drusilla walked out of the bus and looked up at the sign,

‘WELCOME TO SUNNYDALE’

She smiled evilly, Spike had been a naughty boy last time she was here, now she would punish him for being mean to her.

She laughed maniacally and skipped off to find him.

Spike was wounded, his pride was wounded again. He cried in front of them, why was he so stupid sometimes. He sighed as he couldn’t sleep, and he tossed and turned under the covers. He heard the door open quietly and soft footprints approached the ladder. A familiar smell invaded his senses, but he couldn’t remember where he had smelt it before. He heard a low humming voice and turned to see his dark princess come down the ladder,

“Dru?”

She laughed wickedly as she produced two knives out her boot,

“You’ve been wicked Spike, now you will die for me, again.”

Buffy was lying in her bed a week later. Spike had left without them knowing it that day, and she had not seen him since. He was probably embarrassed for crying in front of them. He was like that, he liked to protect his manhood.

Her windows burst open wildly a soft whisper caught her attention,

“He needs your help Buffy, help him please.”

The windows shut again, and she hurriedly got dressed, grabbed a stake and hurried off the find Spike.

Spike was chained to the wall. The same place that he had chained Buffy. He couldn’t open his eye and figured that it was the work of Dru. He could hear her singing away to herself as she sharpened a large knife on a stone.

“You’re awake now Spike. That is good because I want to see your face when I chop you up into little pieces.”

She walked over to him and he began to struggle. His arms were stained with his own blood and so were his legs. She had been torturing him for a few days now and he was weak. He could smell blood all over himself and he begged Dru for mercy,

“Come on love, we could be together again, just don’t do this.”

Dru laughed,

“No Spikey, you love the Slayer.”

Spike laughed evilly,

“You’re right, I’d never want you again. Buffy is the only one I ever loved. You were just convenient. I never loved you, you sick bitch. I despise you.”

Dru screamed and impaled Spike with the knife, right through his stomach,

“I hate the Slayer for what she did to you. I’ll kill her next.”

Buffy listened from the door as he spoke to her. It was touching in a weird sense. She listened as Dru threatened her and she was about to jump out when she heard Spike reply.

“If you ever touch a single hair on her head, I will rip you to pieces, bit by bit. Until all I have left is your heart, which I will then impale with a tooth pick and eat myself.”

Dru pulled out the knife and stabbed him again in the leg,

“How can you say that Spike. She has ruined you.”

Spike laughed and smiled a genuine smile,

“No, she saved me.”

Dru stabbed him once again through the other leg,

“Well if she is so wonderful them why isn’t she here right now saving you?”

Spike looked a bit sad but them he smiled as Buffy jumped out the shadows and knocked Dru to the ground,

“I am here bitch. And I will always be here.”

She held Dru down and lifted her stake. She glanced up at Spike seeing if he was alright with her killing Dru. He nodded and she plunged the stake into her chest and watched her turn to dust.

She ran to Spike and unlocked his chains and he fell into her arms,

“Spike? Are you okay?”

Spike smiled and looked at her,

“I am now.”

Buffy kissed him, not resisting temptation anymore.

“I heard what you said Spike, and I can’t promise to love you. But I can promise to try.”

Spike smiled like a schoolboy,

“That’s all I ever wanted.”

Buffy kissed him once more and he looked at her puzzled,

“Why did you come? How did you know.”

Buffy smiled,

“A whisper in the wind told me.”

Spike knew she meant Catherine and thanked his little sister from the bottom of his dead heart.

“I love you Buffy.”

She smiled and kissed him once more for good measure,

“I knew long ago.”

THE END