Honor Camp, Tuesday mid-morning
The Vampires came out of their Carpentry class laughing at something Xander had said, but they all sobered up soon enough when they noticed Snyder’s jeep and a police car parked in front of the Isolation building and saw the warden pulling Forrest out of the back of the car. The boy was handcuffed, bloodied and bruised and it seemed he hardly could stand without help. Snyder threw Forrest toward two of the deputies and took his shotgun out of his jeep before walking over to where the stunned boys stood.
When he reached them he passed his hand over a bloodied spot on his coat and showing the boys the blood staining his palm, he said, “Trying to pull off shit like that won’t do anybody no good, boys.” He paused as he scanned the faces in front of him to check if he’d gotten their undivided attention. “The Council tells me this is an Honor Camp. That means no walls, no bars and no fences. They tell me that I have to trust that you won’t run away from here. I tell you…” the warden added with a grave face, before an evil sneer settled across his mouth. “You try to escape…I’ll hunt you down. And believe me, what I did to Forrest would be nothing compared to what I’d do to the next one that tries to pull a similar stunt.”
Snyder stopped in front of Spike on his way back to the isolation building and whispered, “I’m watching you, Taylor.” The warden brought his bloodied palm upwards and slapped Spike’s cheek with it as he pushed him out of his way.
Furious by Snyder’s action, Spike clenched his jaw as he tried to clean his cheek with his hand, exchanging an understanding look with Xander, thinking that it was a very good thing that they had already decided that they were going to escape soon, because there was no way in hell that he’d be willing to be Snyder’s scapegoat for any longer than he absolutely had to.
Immaculate Heart School’s patio, mid-morning
Willow and Buffy sat on a very isolated area on the patio during recess. Willow had been mulling over how to ask Buffy if the guy who broke into the school last night had been Spike and she finally decided that the best approach might be being as direct as she could.
“Hmmm, Buffy?”
“Yes, Will?”
“I was wondering if… by any chance…hmm … the guy that broke into the school last night could be… you know, hmmmm… Spike?” Willow asked.
Buffy sighed and nodded, telling Willow a not so detailed account of the night before, which left the redhead feeling even more worried for her friend.
“I know I shouldn’t meddle, and believe me, if it were any of the other girls I definitely wouldn’t… but it’s you and I’m worried that this might be getting a bit out of hand,” Willow continued. “You’re both taking too many risks, Buffy, and… I-I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if either of you gets caught.”
“I know, Will. But… I just… it’s just like an irresistible force is pulling me towards him. Each day, each hour, hell, each minute that goes by, is one minute closer to the day that I won’t be able to see him again. Can you imagine how hard that is for me? I know it’s risky, maybe even more so for him than for me. But I need you to understand that I have the chance of being happy with the man I love and I refuse to miss on that just because I’m afraid,” she breathed in deeply, knowing what the most probable reaction to her next statement would be. “Which is why I accepted to go away with him when he asked me to.”
“You what?!” Willow exclaimed.
“You heard me, Will. He asked me and I said yes and I…” Buffy’s eyes filled with tears before continuing. “I know it won’t be easy, but you know all I’ve been through here and call me crazy, but I know Spike’s the one for me and I refuse to lose that. A-and… I need your help so badly, Will, please. I need to know that you’ll be backing me up. I can’t do this without you. You’re the only one I trust, the only one I can count on.”
“Okay, okay, I’m in. You know I will help you in everything I can. Let it be noted that I’m doing it under protest though,” Willow said but her warm smile belied her words.
“Thanks, Will, I knew that if there was someone I could count on it was you,” Buffy hugged Willow tightly. “Now I need to ask you a big favor.”
“What?”
“Well… since you’re the school’s computer genius, I was wondering if… by any chance, you could search a person’s address on the web?”
“Oh, that’s pretty easy. Do you have the complete name of the person and their last known address?”
“Here it is,” Buffy said, handing Willow the paper Spike had given the day before.
“Josh Taylor?” Willow asked curiously.
“Yeah, he’s Spike’s dad. He hasn’t seen or heard from him in a while and he’d like to know where he might find him.”
“Ah, okay, consider it done,” Willow said smiling. “Now we’ve just have to convince Sister Jen of lending us the computer lab this afternoon and I think I’ve got the perfect plan for that.”
Sister Jen’s Classroom, Early Afternoon
“Sister Jen?” Willow and Buffy called after the nun before she left the classroom.
“Yes, girls?” the nun smiled at them. “What can I do for you?”
“We were wondering if you’d be so kind as to let Elizabeth and I use the Computer Lab for a while this afternoon,” Willow said.
“What for, Willow?” Sister Jen inquired.
“Well, Elizabeth asked me to help her do a bit of research on her new school. You do know she’ll be leaving us in about a week, don’t you?” Willow replied.
“Oh, yes, I do know, Willow. And you know I’ll miss you, don’t you, Elizabeth? You’re one of my best students,” Sister Jen smiled sweetly at Buffy.
“Thank you, Sister Jen, and I’ll miss you, too. You’re by far my favorite teacher here,” Buffy answered sincerely.
“I don’t see any problem with you using the Lab, girls,” Sister Jen said, taking a key out of the keychain hanging off one of the side pockets of her habit and gave it to Buffy. “Take all the time you need. Just make sure to lock after you’re finished, okay?”
“Yes, Sister Jen. Thank you!” the girls said before walking out of the classroom and heading towards the Computer Lab.
Computer Lab
“Never thought she’d say yes that easily,” Buffy said as she opened the door to the lab.
“Well, you heard her, you’re one of her best students, Buffy,” Willow replied as they entered the room and walked towards one of the computers. “I was pretty sure she was gonna say yes.”
“What do we do now?”
“You can sit over here,” Willow said pointing towards a nearby chair. “And tell me more of your plans for tonight while I look for Spike’s dad new address.”
“Okay. Hmmm, can I tell you a secret?” Willow nodded, very intrigued by what the secret could be about. “I think… I mean, I’m pretty sure… tonight might be the night.”
Confused by the statement, Willow turned to look at Buffy and asked, “What night?” Buffy blushed and looked to the floor shyly and Willow immediately realized what she’d meant. “Oh! Y-you mean the night?” Buffy nodded, blushing even more than she was already and the redhead added, “Really? Are you sure?” Buffy just nodded again. “B-but you said you weren’t ready last night. What changed since then?
Buffy thought for a minute on how to answer to that and then she shrugged. “Maybe I did, Will. I just know that today or in one, ten, twenty years, he’ll still be the only one for me. I feel it in my heart, in my mind, in all of me. And really, is there any sense in waiting? If we manage to escape, I think this might be a nice way to start our journey and if I have to go to Geneva…” Buffy’s eyes filled with tears at the thought. “Well, at least I’ll have those memories to tide me over until I find the way to come back to him.”
“Oh, Buffy,” Willow hugged her, trying to comfort her friend. “You know what? Don’t worry; I’m sure everything will be fine. If you two are meant to be together, it doesn’t matter what anyone does to prevent it, you’ll be together.”
Buffy smiled through her tears. “What did I do to deserve having such a wonderful friend as you?”
“I should be the one asking that same question,” Willow said beaming at her friend. “Now let me finish searching for Spike’s dad, because I have some errands to run afterwards.”
Carpentry Room, Late Afternoon
“I still don’t get why you have to go out again tonight,” Xander said, shaking his head.
“I told ya, mate. I promised Buffy I’d meet her at the crypt ‘n I won’t stand ‘er up,” Spike replied.
“Yeah, but you almost got caught yesterday. Remember Snyder is back now and he said he’d be watching you?”
“Yeah, I remember. But I’m willin’ to take any risk if it means I can see Buffy again.”
“Argh! You’re gonna mess up our plans if you keep up with your obsession for this girl!” Xander exploded. “Ever since you met her it’s been ‘Buffy this’ or ‘Buffy that’ all the time, you even want to bring the...”
“Watch it, mate. Ya’re my friend ‘n I’m very grateful for that, but she’s the woman I love ‘n I won’t tolerate ya talkin’ badly about ‘er,” Spike whispered threateningly.
“Okay, but when you get caught don’t come crying to me,” Xander said.
“I won’t get caught.”
“I really hope you don’t, but I have this feeling…” Xander trailed, walking towards the front door. “You know what? Forget it. It’s gonna be dark soon and someone might come looking for us. Let’s go.”
“Xander?” Spike said, waiting until Xander turned back to look at him. “I… I know I don’t say it often but ya’re the best friend I’ve ever ‘ad. I just want ya to understand that right now, Buffy ‘n ya are the most important persons in my life, okay?”
Xander smiled good-naturedly, “Okay, okay. You sure know how to make a guy feel all special, eh?”
Harmony reestablished between them and laughing at Xander’s last comment, the friends walked out of the room and went over to the dining room. When they were far enough, a man came out of his hiding spot outside the Carpentry Room. Angel sneered evilly thinking of how grateful Snyder was gonna be with him once he’d heard about Spike’s plans for tonight. Revenge was gonna be very sweet.
Girls’ room, late evening
“I still can’t believe how easy it was to find his address!” Willow exclaimed.
“Of course it was easy for you, you’re the computer genius. I’m pretty sure that if it’d been me… well, let’s just say that if I would’ve found it, it would had been out of pure luck,” Buffy giggled. “So where did you disappear to this afternoon, missy?”
“Well, I had to buy some things for you.”
“For me?” Buffy asked intrigued.
Willow carried her backpack over to Buffy’s bed and began unloading the things she’d bought that afternoon. She took out a small lantern, a blanket, her Discman, a set of portable speakers, some scented candles, matches and a paper bag. Curious, Buffy took the bag and opened it, only to close it immediately as a fierce blush covered her face.
“Willow, are these what I think they are?”
“Yeah, they are,” Willow said. “I know this will be your first time and I want it to be as special and wonderful as it can be, even if the location seems kinda creepy to me,” she winked. “And since you’re so sure about this and I really doubt Spike would be carrying any condoms with him, I just thought it might be a good idea to get you some. I don’t want you having to worry over a possible pregnancy on top of everything else.”
“Oh, you’re truly the best, Will!” Buffy said giving her friend a crushing hug and putting all the things back into the bag. “I have to go now or I’ll be late. I’ll be back before you have a chance to miss me.”
“I just want you to promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I promise I’ll try.”
“Why doesn’t that comfort me?” Willow said and Buffy shrugged as she threw a kiss to the redhead.
‘Why can’t I shake the nagging feeling that something will go wrong tonight,’ Willow thought as she watched Buffy leave the room.
tbc
Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, but I’m babysitting my nephew and it has shortened my computer time considerably. This chapter was a bit too long and it’s taking me longer than usual to edit it, so I decided to cut it in two; hopefully the next part will be ready tomorrow or on Sunday, depending on how long it takes me to finish editing. Hope you enjoy!