Dawn and Anya bounded down the stairs as Buffy, Spike and Molly entered the house after patrol.
“Principal Wood is going to dust Spike!” Dawn nearly screamed.
“Whoa, I knew he was an evil principal, but I don’t think he’d be able to take Spike down,” noted Molly.
“Thanks mini,” Spike replied. “The boy got his vengeance finally?”
Anya nodded. “Dawn and I were eavesdropping, it was good fun, until we heard the plot. Nate and Robin are hatching a plan!”
Buffy chuckled.
“We’re completely serious Buffy!” Dawn said with annoyance at her sister.
“Oh, and I completely believe you. This isn’t the first time that Robin’s tried to dust Spike. In my lifetimes anyway. He couldn’t do it last time when Spike was semi possessed and crazy, so I don’t think he’ll be able to do it with a non crazy Spike who is clearly not possessed.”
“Thanks for that vote of confidence, love,” Spike noted sarcastically.
“Fine, don’t believe us, but tomorrow night, you’ll regret not believing us!” Dawn harrumphed, heading back upstairs to her room.
“Yeah!” Anya said equally unhappy and teleported away.
Spike looked at his mate with confusion. “They were really worried about that love.”
Buffy started to head into the kitchen for her post patrol yoghurt with a smile on her face. “To kill you Spike, Robin would have to incapacitate me, Molly, Dawn, Anya, Willow, and Tara. There’s not way he could do all of that without someone catching on. Besides the last time, he had Giles in on it, and it was only Giles that could get me away long enough for Robin to carry out his plan. Giles isn’t in on it. And I bet that Anya is off to tell Giles right now. And you are forgetting one thing.”
“What’s that love?”
Buffy leaned in to kiss him. “I’m mated to you this time. I can tell when you are in danger, long before you realise it. And both Giles and Nate know that I’m mated to you.”
“And mates always exact vengeance for the death of their mate,” Spike said confidently.
“Always.”
____________________________________________
Nate walked into his house and turned on a light. He’d been out most of the night pondering what Robin had told him, made him agree to do. He knew that he couldn’t go through with it, but it seemed that not agreeing to it wasted a talented and intelligent young man that could be an asset to the Council of Watchers.
Nate walked further into his home and sat down on his comfy chair and leaned back against the headrest.
“It’s about time you got home,” came Giles’ voice from the darkness of his kitchen.
Startled, Nate sat up and gripped the arms of his chair tightly. “Mr. Giles!”
“I had a interesting piece of information whispered in my ear tonight,” Giles started moving towards the watcher. “It wasn’t exactly the most welcoming piece of news.”
“I can only guess what information that would be, convincing you to break into my home.”
“Oh, I think you can guess,” Giles continued. “It seems you are hatching a plot to dust my slayer’s mate.”
Nate exhaled. “Your information is correct, as far as what I said out loud. However, I should caution you, that sometimes when one is trying to subvert an action one does not always say out loud what one is thinking.”
“Be that as it may, it seems that Mr. Wood was confident enough in his opinion of you to bring you into his plan.”
“Mr. Wood has no other allies to confide in. He is grasping at straws.”
Giles nodded.
“It was my intention, to inform you by telephone tonight, once I got home of what transpired and seek your help in catching Mr. Wood in his crime.”
“You want Spike to kill Wood?”
Nate shook his head. “I doubt that Spike would kill Wood. Spike’s been on a leash too long. He’ll let the principal live. I want Wood to realise the folly of his mistake and bring his vendetta to the Council of Watchers. Maybe he can’t kill the vampire that killed his mother, but perhaps he can help eradicate all the others.”
“Foolish,” Giles muttered. “Wood will not stop until he’s dusted William the Bloody. If he hasn’t joined the Council by now, he’s not likely to. He’s placed himself in Sunnydale strategically, to be close to Spike.”
“You may be right, Mr. Giles. Regardless, Wood is under the impression that tomorrow night, you and I will lead our slayers on training excursion, leaving Spike alone to patrol.”
“Then we need Robin Wood to realise the folly of his plan.”
_____________________________________________
“I think you are nuts!” yelled the Key. “You know what they have planned and you are still willing to go along with it?” She waved her hands emphatically as if that action would help her sister, at whom she was yelling, to get the point.
“Dawn, Robin has to get this out of his system. And if he hurts my Spike, I’ll follow through on my threat. No one will find the body,” Buffy replied with an evil grin.
“You’re bloody scary,” Molly noted, staring at her teacher, a stake clutched in her hand. She was waiting to go, her feet itching to get out the door that stood a few meters beside her and kill something.
“Tonight’s patrol will have a script,” Buffy confirmed, looking at her student slayer. “And you will go along with it.” Buffy then turned back to her sister. “And you will wait at home until everyone comes home again.”
Dawn pouted. “Fine, but only ‘cause if I get caught somewhere by the military they will try and experiment on me.”
“Smart girl,” Buffy noted, patting Dawn’s head. “Spike!” she called up the stairs. “Molly and I are off, don’t do anything stupid out there tonight.”
“Oh, go on, you daft bint!” came Spike’s articulate reply.
As Molly and Buffy left, Dawn headed up the stairs to see Spike. He was standing in the hallway unwrapping a new pack of cigarettes.
“You know, smokes will kill you,” Dawn stated.
“No, I thought your biggest concern was that principals with vendettas were going to kill me.”
“Well that too,” Dawn agreed. “I don’t want you to die.”
“Already dead, Bit.”
“That’s not what I meant!”
Spike stepped closer to his platelet and enveloped her in a hug. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, Bite Size. This principal isn’t going to get his one good day.”
“I don’t want you to kill him either,” Dawn admitted.
“I’m not going to try to, pet, but if it comes down to him or me?”
“You, definitely you.”
“Glad we agree on that.”
Downstairs, the doorbell rang, followed by a brief pounding on the door.
“It’s him, pet. Go open the door for the prat. Better get this over with.”
Dawn gulped and nodded, turning to head down the stairs. “Spike?” she said stopping on the third step down. “I love you, you know.”
“I know, Dawn. I love you too.”
Dawn continued down the stairs and opened the door, revealing Principal Wood, a panicked look on his face.
“Is Buffy or Molly home?” he asked, out of breath.
“No,” Dawn said, following the script, “they are out with Nate and Giles tonight. Spike’s home though, you want to talk to him?”
“You got something to say to the Slayers?” Spike asked, his Doc Martin’s clomping down the stairs.
“I found a vamp nest,” Robin panted. “I thought I could take it on myself, but there were too many of them. I ran. Probably following me. I could really use some help here.”
Spike nodded, taking a stake out from his jacket pocket and giving it a twirl. “Right then, lead on MacDuff.”
Dawn ground her teeth together, the literary reference not lost on her. They read Macbeth last year in English class; MacDuff killed MacBeth.
“Don’t stay up too late, Nibblet,” Spike said, giving Dawn a pat on the head and headed out into the night.
_________________________________________
Dawn paced. In fact she was pretty sure she was weakening the structural stability of the floor with all her pacing. She wanted to know what was going on. She wanted to be there, watching, helping, protecting.
But that wasn’t happening.
She was interrupted in her pacing by a knock on her door. Andrew stood, looking pathetic in the doorway.
“You wanna watch a movie?” the nerd asked.
“Unless it’s a movie of Spike and Robin, I’m not interested.”
“Actually…”
Eyes wide, Dawn squealed. “Oh my god, are you kidding? You bugged Spike?”
Andrew nodded. “I knew you were worried…”
Dawn hugged her friend. “Lead me to the TV!” she ordered him, grabbing his hand and leading him to the living room.
_________________________________________________
Ten minutes later, Dawn, Anya, Willow, Tara, and Andrew were all sitting in front of the Summers’ TV watching the spectacle unfold. Anya had appeared when Dawn called on the vengeance demon, and Tara and Willow after they’d been phoned.
“A hard day’s principaling and you decide to take on a vamp nest by yourself?” Spike asked Wood who was leading him to what looked like a storage containing down by the docks.
“I’ve got to do my part you know. I was raised by a watcher. Just trying to do what’s right. Make a difference. How about you? What kind of man are you Spike?”
“Sorry. Not much for self reflection.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. See you strike me as the kind of guy who just careens through life, completely oblivious to the damage he’s doing to everyone around him.”
“That right?”
“Oh, I know more about you than you think, Spike. See, I’ve been searching for you for a very, very long time. Ever since you killed my mother.” Robin turned around facing Spike. The people at home finally could see Wood.
“I’ve killed a lot of people’s mothers,” Spike responded.
“Yeah. You’d remember mine. She was a slayer.”
“So, that’s it, innit? Brought me here to kill me?” Spike asked cockily.
Robin flipped a switch and the storage container lit up revealing the inside, covered with crosses.
“What gave you that idea?” Robin responded, launching himself at Spike.
At 1630 Revello Drive there was a collective gasp as Spike fought off Wood.
“Bite him!” Anya yelled at the screen.
“Anya, he can’t hear you,” Willow noted.
Dawn’s eyes were riveted to the screen, Spike was fighting off Wood trying to keep away from the walls in such a tightly enclosed space.
“I don’t give a piss about your mum,” Spike talked back to Wood, parrying his blows. “She was slayer. I’m a vampire. That’s the way the game is played.”
“Game?” Robin responded, hurt. Wood lunged at Spike, but was caught off balance and Spike punched him before jumping up and kicking Robin to the end of the cargo container.
“She knew what she was signing up for,” Spike continued.
“Well I didn’t sign up for it,” Robin continued, standing up from his fall.
“Well, that’s the rub, innit? You didn’t sign up for it.”
“You took my childhood.” Robin struck out with a punch. “ You took her away. She was all I had. She was my world.”
“And you weren’t hers. Doesn’t that piss you off?” Spike taunted Wood, pushing him away from him.
“Shut up, you didn’t know her.” Robin spun out and kicked Spike.
Spike took the advantage and knocked Robin down, while the principal tried to kick Spike from the floor, but Spike grabbed his leg.
“I know slayers. No matter how many people they’ve got around them, they fight alone. Life of the chosen one. The rest of us be damned. Your mother was no different.”
“No, she loved me,” Wood spat, from his spot on the floor, clearly injured.
“But not enough to quit, though, was it? Not enough to walk away…for you. You see, I do know slayers. Killed two, hunted three others, and the one that could have killed me…well I’m mated to her. Your mother was good. Damn good, but there was always something missing from her fight. Buffy’s got it. Buffy has something to believe in. She’s optimistic and she’ll never give up. That’s what she’s got that your mother didn’t have. You weren’t enough to keep her in the world. She didn’t believe in her world. I just wanted you to know that, before I kill you.”
Spike vamped out and the audience at the Summers’ house cried out for him to stop. Spike grabbed Wood and stood him up, exposing the man’s neck.
“Well?” came Buffy’s voice from the open end of the cargo container. “Are you going to bite him or what?”
Spike turned towards Buffy and the screen revealed Buffy standing with her hands on her hips and tapping her foot.
Spike let Robin drop to the floor and he walked to Buffy. “You know it was never in the plan to bite the git,” Spike explained. “You got here early.”
“I got impatient,” she explained, leaning in to kiss him.
The pair turned to the bleeding man in the cargo container.
“I’ll give him a pass. Let him live, on account of the fact I killed his mother. But that’s all he gets. He even so much looks at me funny again, I’ll kill him.”
Buffy giggled. “Sure you will,” she said before kissing him again. Then Buffy walked towards Wood while Spike looked on.
“I lost my mom a couple of years ago,” Buffy started. “I came home and found her dead on the couch.”
“I’m sorry,” Robin replied.
“I understand what you tried to do, but she’s dead.”
“Because he murdered her.”
“Yeah, he did. And he didn’t. You’re looking for revenge on a man that doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Buffy,” Robin pleaded with her, “don’t delude yourself, that man still exists.”
“I love that man. I don’t’ even like you right now. You try anything again, he’ll kill you.”
Robin laughed softly.
“More importantly, I’ll let him. And I’ll help him feed you to some demons with rather questionable feeding habits that we happen to know. Remember what I said in September? No one will ever find your body.”
The front door of 1630 Revello Drive opened, and Molly, Giles, and Nate walked in.
“You really should have gotten here sooner!” Dawn squealed.
“I’m taping it!” Andrew declared. “We can watch it again!”
_______________________________
Tbc…
[Reviews - 115]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 1455 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Some dialogue taken from Lies my parents told me. Hugs to the fab Bloodytearsoflife who beta’d.
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.
Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.