Title: Full Of Sound And Fury
Author: Sanguine
Email: Amanda@sidhe.org
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and 20th-Century Fox own these characters. The situations presented here come from my own twisted brain.
Distribution: With permission.
Rating: PG

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, act 5, scene 5


Spike felt the fresh human blood rush through him. Ecstasy. With great difficulty he withdrew his fangs from his victim’s neck. Weakly she looked up at him, a mix of fear and questioning in her eyes. Why wasn’t she dead?

Spike turned his face from her. He couldn’t look at her, look at the still bleeding wound on her neck. God he wanted it. But she had another purpose. "I spared you, pet. Now I need you to run a little errand for me." His voice became low and menacing. "And if you don’t, I will find you again . . ."

"Anything." The girl began to cry. "I’ll do anything you want. Just don’t kill me. Please don’t . . ."

Spike raised one hand, his face still turned from the girl as he struggled to regain his composure. "Save it. Here’s what I need you to do . . ."

Glory watched the still bleeding girl look furtively around her as she escaped from Spike’s crypt. "Dreg, you disgusting creature! You’re right! He is the one. He has to be."

Joyce taped the white gauze to the girl’s neck. "Buffy, we should really take her to the hospital."

The girl shook her head. "No! I have to give you my message. I have to . . ." She began to cry again, shaking violently.

Buffy put her arm around the girl and stroked her hair. "Shhhh. OK. OK. Start at the beginning, then we’ll take you the hospital."

The girl took a broken breath. "There’s no time. There’s no time. This is it. This is his message. Spike says to tell you the chip is out. He said to show you my neck as proof."

Buffy gasped. Spike bit this girl?

"He said to tell you Glory did it, she took the chip out, and she wants him to kill you."

Buffy laughed bitterly. "Let him come and try."

The girl shook her head. "No! He said he let me go so you’ll trust him and he won’t kill you, but Glory’s watching him and she’ll kill you both and . . ." The girl collapsed in hysterics.

"Mom, take her to the hospital. I’ve got some business to take care of."

"Buffy," Joyce’s face became drawn with concern. "Do you think that’s wise? If this Glory person is wanting to kill you and Spike did this . . ." She gestured towards the young girl, her voice trailing off as she contemplated the potential horrible outcome.

"I know, I know, Mom." She hugged her tightly. "I will be careful."

A light still shone in the Magic Box. Well past midnight. Giles read the passage again. He couldn’t believe it. It couldn’t be true. Spike? Not Spike? And Buffy? There had to be another way of interpreting this. It just can’t be right!

"It’s him alright." Quentin Travers looked at the impatient blond who was pacing before him. "He’s the one."

"How do you know?" Travers arched an eyebrow cynically.

"He let the girl go. We offered him a yummy fresh girl, and he let her go. And then he sent her trotting away to warn the Slayer. What more proof do you need?"

Travers tapped his fingers lightly on his desk. "Intriguing. Simple intriguing. So they’re the guardians of the key?"

Glory’s voice raised shrilly, "Duh! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you."

"So, if we watch both of them, they will lead us right to it. It’s destiny."

"And then I’ll get to leave this icky mortal coil thing and go home and then you’ll have what you want."

"Yes." Travers agreed. "We certainly will."

"Hello?" Dawn picked up the phone wearily. Strange things were always happening lately. Lots of whispering. Lots of secrets. Made it hard for her to sleep. And now Mom was at the hospital with some weird girl who just showed up, babbling about Spike. Dawn didn’t like Spike, but it was totally obvious he liked her sister. Everyone liked her sister . . ."

". . . . very important that I speak with her."

"Huh?" Dawn’s attention snapped back. "What was that Mr. Giles?"

"Is Buffy there? It’s very important that I speak with her."

"Uh uh. I think she went to see Spike. She seemed pretty angry." Dawn’s face lit up with curiosity. "What’s going on?"

"Bloody hell!" Giles cursed. "Oh, that’s . . . that’s not meant for you Dawn. Thanks for the information."

"Anytime. No problem." Dawn heard the phone click as Giles hastily hung up his receiver. "Don’t tell me anything. That’s fine. Well maybe I’ll just pay a little visit to Spike myself."

"Buffy. I’ve been expecting you."

Buffy brandished a stake menacingly in one hand, a cross in the other. "What game are you playing? Why didn’t you kill that girl? Your chip is out. You can be the Big Bad again, right? You could even try to kill me again if you wanted to. Try being the operative word."

Spike could hear the blood rushing through Buffy’s veins. It was louder than ever. He could tell how upset she was.

"Spike! Talk! Now!"

"No game Slayer." He sat down heavily on his bed. "No game."

Buffy’s eyes spotted the framed picture of herself on his bedside table. "No game," she repeated under her breath.

"Glory wanted me to kill you. Big miscalculation on her part."

"I . . . I guess so." Buffy shifted her weight between her feet uncomfortably. "Look, I don’t know why you’re acting this way . . . and maybe I don’t want to know." She paused as she saw the pain flit across Spike’s face. "But both of us are in big trouble. Glory is really powerful. I just can’t figure out why she didn’t come and get me herself."

"Didn’t know your address?" Spike shrugged, examining the tops of his shoes, not making eye contact.

"Maybe." Buffy sat down on the bed beside him. "In any case we have to figure out something or . . ." Wait! He doesn’t know about the key. Could she tell him?

"What is it?" For the first time since she’d entered his crypt Spike’s eyes met hers. What she saw there both unnerved her and told her she could trust him.

Buffy cleared her throat, "You see, there’s this key . . ."

Giles ran towards Spike’s crypt. He only hoped that he would reach Buffy in time. If she killed Spike it would all be over.

"Dreg. What do you see?"

"She definitely went in there to see him, my splendid shining highness."

"So if the prophecy is right, they will go straight to the key." Glory sighed and leaned against an old elm, stretching her arms out in bliss. "And then I can go home."

Dawn looked anxiously behind her. No one was following her. She felt the stake in her jacket pocket. She could handle vampires too! Living in Sunnydale, you picked up a few things. She saw the edge of the cemetery. Almost there! Then she’d find out what was really going on . . . for a change.

"Wait! Buffy! Don’t kill him!"

Giles burst through the door and found . . . Buffy and Spike sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Oh thank God you didn’t do anything rash. It’s the prophecy." Giles laughed a little bit hysterically. "It’s all in the prophecy."

"Whoa, Giles. Slow down. I know you get excited about those dusty old books, but . . ."

"Buffy there’s no time for banter. I must talk to you seriously. Talk to you both."

Spike looked up. "We’re listening."

"The prophecy says that there will be a Slayer. She is destined to protect the key, the portal. The key that Glory wants." Giles gestured towards Spike. "Does he know about the key?"

Buffy nodded. "I told him."

"But how did you know you could trust him?"

Buffy turned red, and even Spike’s normally pale face flushed with embarrassment.

"Oh never mind. The important thing is you knew. Anyway, the key isn’t just a portal. Yes, that’s one of its functions. But its energy also maintains the balance between good and evil on earth. Although the prophecy is vague, it appears that if the wrong person, if an evil entity like Glory has possession of its power, then evil will permanently win on earth. The war will be over."

"What does this have to do with us?"

"According to the prophecy, you, Buffy, are the Chosen One in more ways than one. You are the guardian of the key. But you are not the only guardian." Giles turned to the sullen blond vampire, not wanting to believe the prophecy’s words. "Spike, you are the other guardian."

"Both of us?" Buffy couldn’t believe it. Spike might be more sensitive than most vampires, but he was still evil. Not the best choice to guard a key with such incredible power.

"Yes both of you." Giles cleared his throat. This next bit was hard to swallow, particularly after everything Spike had done, all the times he’d tried to kill Buffy, betrayed the Scooby Gang. "According to the prophecy, together the two guardians provide the perfect balance of good and evil."

"Balance?" Spike looked skeptically at Giles.

"Yeah." Buffy looked equally unconvinced. "I don’t sense a lot of balance coming from blondie over there."

"Wait a sodding minute, I just . . ."

"Enough!" The tone of Giles’s voice stopped the argument dead in its tracks. "Let me explain. The prophecy tells us that the Slayer’s power is rooted in darkness. She kills and hunts, even if the killing and hunting is justified. Her violent actions help maintain the balance between good and evil."

"So far, this is stuff I’ve heard before Giles." Buffy sighed. She found the idea that her power was somehow rooted in darkness deeply disturbing.

"This part is more difficult to fathom. The prophecy tells of a vampire who is special, an exception to the rule. He cannot kill and is capable of love and through that love he regains part of the goodness that had left him when he was turned. He is still without a soul, still without remorse, but not wholly evil."

Spike listened to the prophecy, panic and embarrassment flooding him in equal measures. "Doesn’t sound like anyone I know."

"I think it does." Buffy considered him carefully. "You didn’t kill the girl, even though you could, you loved Dru, and now . . ."

"Whatever." Spike began studying his shoes again. "Giles, tell us the rest."

"Whoops!" Spike’s door swung open and a young girl fell through.

"Dawn!" Buffy and Giles cried simultaneously.

"Bloody hell! Nobody ever bothers to knock," Spike hissed.

Dawn looked very sheepish. "I just happened to be out for a walk, and I just happened to see you come in here, so I just thought I’d see what’s going on and then . . ."

"I can’t believe she’s the key." Spike scoffed. "Sodding portal, my ass."

"Spike!" Giles and Buffy whirled angrily and glared at the vampire.

"What? What did I say?" He looked at Dawn’s expression. "Oh God. She doesn’t know!"

"I’m a portal?" Dawn yelled. "Why is everyone whispering behind my back? Why do people say I don’t exist? I don’t understand why . . ."

"Slayer, you could have mentioned she didn’t know."

"I thought you told him everything Buffy," Giles’s voice also raised in intensity.

"OK. Maybe the prophecy was a teensy bit wrong." Glory and Dreg strode through the door. "Boy, you guys sure do talk loud. I guess the key has come to you." Glory looked at Dawn menacingly. "Come here, kid. I have some candy . . ."

"NO!!!!" Dawn ran backwards, cowering into the corner of Spike’s crypt as rays of pure energy began leaking out from around her eye sockets, from her fingertips, from the ends of her hair.

Buffy looked at Spike. He nodded. It seemed hopeless, but they would try.

Buffy stepped forward and attacked Glory, landing a punch right in her face. Glory stumbled back a few steps, and began to speak just as Spike’s fist connected, slamming her against the concrete wall. Dreg backed cautiously towards the door. He abhorred violence.

Buffy felt the adrenaline and anger rush through her. The marble of Spike’s crypt suddenly turned all shades of black and gray. Anger and hatred filled her, feeding her. That bastard Riley who left her. [Slam.] Dawn—she never asked for that. The Chosen One. Destiny. No one could understand. [Crunch.] She watched her hands and feet as they performed their violent magic (moving so impossibly fast). She saw another figure superimposed, something dark. The First Slayer. Buffy smiled.

Spike burned as if lit from the inside. His crypt was an overexposed photograph. Too light. Too bright. He squinted. It hurt his eyes. He saw Buffy fly backwards, painfully hitting the unforgiving wall, leaving cracks behind. Then he knew. He had to save her. Nothing else mattered. Not the key. Not destiny. Not being loved in return.

Spike placed a hand on Buffy’s shoulder. He tried to speak. No words came out. Everything was in slow motion. Buffy. Girl. Slayer. Killer. Loneliness. Love. Confusion. He felt energy and light . . . and shadow.

Buffy felt breath escape from her mouth, but no sound. Time moved slowly. Spike. Gentleman. Poet. Rejection. Sadness. Anger. Bloodshed. Love. Loneliness. She felt energy and shadow . . . and light.

Together Spike and Buffy felt Glory writhe in pain. This is what they were meant to do. Yes. It was all over.

Spike and Buffy collapsed. Glory was gone. So was Dawn.

Quentin Travers tried to keep a stiff upper lip, but he was deeply, deeply disappointed. "So Dreg. They defeated her? And no key?"

"The key just disappeared. The energy seemed to go into the Slayer and the blond vampire."

Travers nodded. "Yes, I suppose it would. They are the balancing agents. They will be the keepers. It’s a pity though that our little arrangement didn’t work out. Glory could have gotten what she wanted and in return we could have had all that energy. We could have really accomplished something then."

Dreg didn’t care about the Watcher’s Council or their plans. He just wanted to leave this place. "Well, if you won’t be needing anything else, I’ll take my money now."

"Oh yes. Of course. How uncivilized of me." Travers opened his desk drawer and pulled out an envelope. "Here you are."

Dreg greedily grasped the envelope and immediately screamed in pain as the poison traveled through his body.

Travers observed him dispassionately. "Dreg, you didn’t really think we’d let you go? You’re a demon. A menace to society."

Dreg’s eyes bulged from his head.

"As you breathe your last you might wonder why I wasn’t poisoned by the envelope. Well, our scientists are very industrious you know. They’ve developed all kinds of poisons designed especially to kill demons. No effect on humans though."

Travers patted the now dead Dreg on the shoulder. "Better luck next time, old chap."

Buffy and Spike sat in uncomfortable silence. Giles had left. Someone had to tell Joyce about Dawn. About what had happened.

Buffy began to cry. Even though Dawn was not her sister, she still cared about her. And now she was gone.

Silently Spike put his arm around her shoulder.

Buffy looked at him with a tear-stained face. Everything she’d thought about him wasn’t true. "I don’t know what happened. What was the purpose of all that? The key? Glory? Then it was just over so quickly."

Spike shook his head. "Maybe it means nothing at all. Just full of sound and fury, pet."

Buffy knew the reference and half-smiled. William the Poet. "Or maybe it did all mean something. We’ll just have to wait and see."

THE END