Chapter 6
The Scoobies arrived in couples. First came Xander and Anya; Xander bringing the obligatory pizza and donuts while Anya had carelessly flopped down on one of the chairs, demonstrating her boredom with the situation. Willow and Tara had gotten there within minutes of the others, Willow obviously anxious to reassure herself that Buffy was alright and finally back home.
“So we ready to get some Scooby Searching on?” Xander said with a wide grin, scanning the collected members of their team. His new slang phrase was met with groans from Buffy and Willow while Spike tried to suppress a grin at the doltish line.
“Xan, honestly,” Willow said shaking her head, but she couldn’t stop herself from grinning at her best friend.
“What?” Xander protested, reaching for a slice of pizza as soon as Joyce set out napkins.
“Scooby Searching?” Buffy raised an eyebrow but couldn’t help the smile that tickled her lips. “Do we even need to explain?”
Xander blushed and busied himself stuffing his face with food. His embarrassment was worth the scolding if it brought a smile to his friend’s face, though. He watched her reach for a slice but to his horror she offered it to the vampire next to her on the sofa before getting one for herself. Spike smiled in thanks and proceeded to take a large bite out of the pizza, with a wink at Xander.
“What are you doing here anyways, bleached pest?” Xander asked, voice tinged with ferocity. He felt safe insulting the vampire from a distance due to Buffy’s presence in the room. “And aren’t you supposed to stick to a liquid diet, not indulge in garlic-y goodness?”
“Xander,” Willow admonished right away, glancing over at Buffy, whose face had immediately hardened at Xander’s comment. “Spike saved Buffy. He’s like an honorary Scooby. Sort of,” she finished glancing over at the infamous vampire.
“Right,” Xander scoffed, lowering his eyes to the floor, mildly annoyed for being chastised because of the peroxide pest.
“Xander,” Buffy waited until the boy in question had looked up to meet her gaze. “Spike saved me. Spike was tortured just as much as I was. We made it out of there together and we will bring them down together. If you have any problems with that…” she trailed off, not wanting to have to finish the sentence.
“I know, Buff,” Xander began, eyeing the vampire warily. “But it’s Spike. Bottle-in-face, evil-vampire guy. Let’s-kill-you-all-on-Saturday. Slayer of Slayers? Ring any giant oversized warning bells?”
“You’re that Spike?” Anya’s awe-filled voice piped up before Buffy could respond. “William the Bloody?”
Spike tilted his head at the woman, not sure where to place her in the group. She hadn’t been a part of the original gang, but she didn’t look older than the lot of them.
“Yeah, pet,” he drawled, a self-indulgent smile creeping over his lips. “And who might you be?”
“Anyanka,” Anya replied brightly. “I was a vengeance demon until these guys broke my necklace. Tried to get it back, met evil vampire Willow from another dimension, but that was a colossal failure. I’ve heard a lot about you. You’re almost a hero in the demon community. I mean, not a real hero, because you’re a vampire and therefore not a ‘real’ demon.” Anya shrugged her shoulders in what could have been an apology and smiled while the rest of the group looked on at her in shock.
“What?” Anya asked, looking to Xander for help. “What did I do now?”
“Nothing, Anya,” Giles said when Xander’s reply consisted of his best fish-out-of-water imitation. “We’re just not used to speaking about Spike’s past so, uh, frankly, I suppose.”
“Oh,” Anya settled back in her chair. “Well, you should. Killing two slayers, that’s a big accomplishment in the demon community. Especially for a vampire.”
“Thanks, luv,” Spike grinned, chuffed at the admiration he felt from her. Glancing over at Buffy and seeing the half amused, half pissed off expression on her face, left him feeling a little less steady. “All in the past, o’course,” he added for good measure.
“Yes, well, Spike’s ‘accomplishments’ aside,” Giles looked down at his note pad, hoping to redirect the group’s attention back to the matter at hand. “We have bigger issues to deal with.”
“Like Spike being an evil serial killer who’ll kill us all?” Xander grumbled under his breath, but not quietly enough to avoid being overheard.
“He can’t, Xander,” Buffy said softly in the silence that permeated after his statement. “If you’ll stop being all judgy for five minutes and let us talk, we may actually get somewhere this afternoon.”
Xander’s eyes shot up at Buffy’s statement, and he nodded, feeling ashamed about his constant interference. Buffy had been through a lot over the last few weeks. He’d be an idiot not to realize it, and it was only fair to let her speak. He figured he could at least talk to her about this when they were alone later on.
“Well, I guess I should start at the beginning,” Buffy began, glancing over at her partner for the last month.
“’S always a good place to begin, Slayer,” Spike said when she seemed reluctant to start.
“It started when Angelus was going to open Acathla…”
“Angelus?” Giles interrupted. “But that was two years ago… sorry, go on,” he said when Buffy sighed dramatically at his disruption. He picked up his notebook and flipped open to a fresh page and started making the appropriate notes.
“As I was saying,” Buffy continued, eyeing her watcher. “Spike came to me when Angelus was all for ending the world. He knew he couldn’t stop Angel by himself, so Spike and I made a deal.”
“I could have taken ‘im,” Spike groused from the other end of the sofa. Buffy glared at him, more because of the interruption than his complaint.
“Anyways, Spike came to me when Angel had kidnapped you,” Buffy shot a meaningful look at her watcher when it seemed he was about to interrupt again. Buffy continued on to tell the Scoobies the details of the truce from years ago and further explained the events of recent weeks, including Spike’s chip. The news was met with a series of troubled expressions and an empathetic smile from Anya when she heard that, much like herself, Spike seemed to be out of the let’s-do-some-evil club.
“So that’s the whole story,” Buffy finished, looking over the assembled group as they took in the information. “Spike has agreed to work with us when it comes to brining down the commandos. So I think the priority now is to find out all we can about them. Hack into computer files, follow them, do whatever we can.”
“Well, I can see what I can do with the computer stuff,” Willow said, shooting a glance at Tara who had remained quiet during the information reveal. “It may be tough though considering they’re probably top secret.”
“Do what you can Wills,” Buffy smiled encouragingly at her friend.
“You should talk to some of the demons in town,” Anya said, smiling brightly. “They are probably very upset about being kidnapped and tortured too. I’m sure they’re looking for a good bloodbath. Every demon loves a bloodbath.”
“Oh, um, well, we could see about that,” Buffy replied, sounding unconvinced. She glanced over at her watcher, hoping for some guidance since the idea seemed appealing to her, but was a bit grey in morality.
“Well, it may be quite difficult to talk to them,” Giles mused.
“Why? You see them everyday,” Anya replied, dumbfounded. “The guys that deliver pizza at night, janitors, fast food employees. I could take you to them in five minutes. Easy.”
“Really? Larry’s a demon?” Xander asked his girlfriend, referring to the aforementioned pizza delivery guys.
“Yes, demons take all the jobs in town that humans can’t or won’t do. Delivering pizza at night for example is a pretty dangerous occupation, so demons do it,” Anya explained in a tone that suggested it should have been obvious to the gathered group of self-proclaimed demon hunters.
“Yeah, ‘s why smart vamps order pizza during the day,” Spike added. “Stay out of the sunlight you get a snack delivered right to your door.” He smiled fondly at the memory. When Buffy punched him in the arm, he turned and winked at her, not sorry for what he had survived on for months while in Angelus’ clutches. When Dru had forgotten to bring him something back from their nightly hunting trips, or Angelus had forbidden her to, Spike would wait until they were asleep in the middle of the day and call out for pizza. Then he’d have dinner and a snack delivered in one easy transaction.
“Well, I am evil,” Spike said by way of explanation. “Think I can help you lot out with some of the demons though. There’s a weekly poker game at Willy’s that a friend often goes to. He may have some information.”
“Good,” Buffy said, forehead furrowed in thought. “I suppose if we can get some help from the demon community it could only be an advantage for us. I assume they’re losing many to the group.”
“Buffy,” Giles began, his tone already hinting at what he had to say. “Are you sure this is wise? These demons you speak of are unreliable at best. How would you convince them to help? And frankly, why would they listen to you?”
“It may not be, Giles,” Buffy sighed. “But what other choice have we got? Besides, I’m pretty sure I can take care of myself if any of them decide to challenge me.”
“They probably won’t,” Anya added. “I mean, why would they? If you’re helping them they have no reason to. Unless you’re rude and insult them, which you probably will. I’ve seen your interpersonal interactions with some of them and I could see how they would be insulted.”
“Huh?” Buffy was confused, not having any idea of the incidents Anya was talking about. She hadn’t exactly been around the gang long enough to notice.
“The school janitor?” Anya prompted. “Before you blew it all up? I saw how you treated him.”
“I had no idea…” Buffy trailed off, hoping to recall what any of the janitors at school had even looked like. She’d been a teenager in high school, not like she would have treated him any differently if he had been human.
“Well, it doesn’t matter,” Anya said, unfazed by the issue. “As long as you know the proper greetings and manners when dealing with the different species you should be fine. Like I said, they probably want to help.”
“Manners?” both Buffy and Giles asked aloud while the remaining Scoobies looked on with interest. Spike, on the other hand, was nodding subtly along with Anya.
“Yes, manners,” Anya said, a bit frustrated to be constantly repeating what she said before. “Like you have to knock three times in quick succession to announce your presence to the T’luctic demon household. Or that you have to incline your head and look at a Gryshnash’s feet instead of his eyes when you meet them the first time. Hasn’t your watcher taught you anything?” She turned accusing eyes on Giles where he sat dumbfounded.
“N-no, I’ve never even heard of demon manners,” Giles muttered, looking humbled by the information Anya was divulging. It had never occurred to him that she would know as much as she did about this. Though that idea in itself had been ignorant, she was over a thousand years old after all. Why wouldn’t she know more about demon species than anyone else in the room?
“Well, then I have no idea how you’re going to enlist their help,” Anya huffed. “These are commonly known facts. And I haven’t even started on the hostile demons yet. Those are just ones who live here peacefully. I wouldn’t want to insult the wrong species.”
“M-m-maybe Anya s-s-should help B-b-buffy,” Tara’s soft voice filled the silence which followed Anya’s warning. Spike looked over at the witch as she sat beside Red, blushing and keeping her eyes trained on a spot on the carpet, obviously hoping her idea wouldn’t be blatantly rejected. Personally, he thought it was a bloody fantastic idea. The Slayer would need all the help she could get trying to make nice with the local Sunnyhell populace.
“’S a brilliant idea, luv,” Spike said keeping his eyes on the girl. She looked up and blushed brighter when she noticed him watching her. “Slayer needs all the help she can get, and with Anyanka’s reputation backing her up, she’d do better than on her own.”
Buffy looked between the former vengeance demon and the vampire. Anya was grinning brightly, obviously happy to be acknowledged while Spike was looking at her intently, as if he was challenging her to say no. Her watcher hadn’t said anything yet so she considered the matter carefully. The last few weeks had taught her more about the grey areas of morality than being a vampire slayer ever had. Some of the species of demon that had been caught were perfectly harmless which she both knew and learned while talking to them. And if Anya could offer her a way in with them, it would be stupid not to take the opportunity.
“Okay,” Buffy said, smiling softly at the gathered group. “It does sound like a good idea, thank you, Tara. As long as you don’t mind helping me, Anya,” she added, respecting the woman’s right to refuse for the first time.
Anya tried her best to look put-out by the idea, but a small smile brightened her face. “Sure, I’ll help. But I’m not killing anything or helping you with weapons. I’m only there as a liaison. Any chance you can pay me for my services?”
“Unfortunately, Anya, I doubt that would ever happen,” Giles interjected with a smile. He was surprised at his Slayer’s decision, but proud that she seemed to have learned something about the girl. They all had, he supposed. Anya huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, but after Xander had whispered something in her ear, she broke out in a dazzling smile. Best hope whatever was said was left between the two lovers, Giles mused.
“Well, maybe we should take a bit of a break,” Joyce suggested, reaching to clear away the boxes littering the ground around them.
“Excellent idea, Joyce,” Giles conceded, seeing the hopeful expressions of the young people. “I’ll help you clean up.”
Joyce smiled and nodded at him and the two proceeded to pick up cartons and mugs from the coffee table. Xander moved to explore the Summers’ movie collection hoping to find something to mellow the group. Willow looked over at Buffy indicating that she wanted to talk to her alone and Buffy rose to go to her room.
“Slayer, I’m gonna catch up on some kip while you birds do your thing,” Spike caught her hand before she could move away from him. “Let me know when you need me.”
Buffy nodded and looked over at Willow. “You want to go upstairs?”
Willow nodded and looked over at Tara who shooed her away with her hands. “Go,” she said when Willow still looked reluctant to leave her alone with Xander and Anya.
“It’s okay, Wills,” Xander said, knowing she probably wanted to tell Buffy about Oz. “We’ll take care of Tara. We’ll start the movie and you can join us when you’re ready.”
“Thank you, Xan,” Buffy smiled at her friend, knowing he was probably jealous that Willow was getting some alone time with her. “We won’t be too long.”
Willow followed Buffy upstairs as the gang settled in to watch a light hearted comedy. Buffy finally felt a little more settled now that the gang knew about everything that had happened while she had been away. They had demonstrated the chip a second time and she suspected that Spike needed some time to rest from the two trials he had been subjected to in a day.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Riley Finn led his troop though the darkening streets of Sunnydale, alert for any signs of the escaped hostiles. He was making his way toward Buffy’s house, hoping to she had come home to her mother, which would certainly make it easy to recapture her and bring her back to The Initiative. Maggie would be very pleased with him if he managed to do just that.
The idea that Buffy, the small, sweet girl he’d run into at the campus bookstore could be a form of unknown demon seemed ridiculous to the Iowa raised farmboy. She had seemed so genuine, her embarrassment after dropping the pile of textbooks on his head was endearing and the small grin when he reassured her that he survived the attack was stunning. He had been so excited to hear that she was in Maggie’s class so that he could potentially have had the chance to talk to her some more, perhaps even ask her out to dinner one night. Or an afternoon picnic.
Still, the tests of her strength, speed, and reflexes had all shown superhuman qualities, much like those of the other vampires they had in containment. He’d watched the operations on occasion prior to Buffy’s capture. He’d seen what happened when you cut too deeply through their necks and severed the spinal column, causing their bodies to crumble into piles of dust. Maggie was always furious when that happened. They needed to keep the vamps alive for training purposes.
Professor Walsh had made him attend one operation on Buffy. He’d watched in shock and horror as they peeled back the skin over her ribs, poking and prodding before accidentally puncturing her lung. He’d left shortly after assuring himself that she would be fine and survive the procedure. After that day, the questions about what Maggie was doing grew in number. Maybe Buffy was a good guy? Like Super Girl or something. It could happen. Someone to balance out all the demons.
Riley shook his head, attempting to clear his head of the traitorous thoughts. He would try to locate ‘Hostile 13’ and then he would decide what to do. The soldier in him told him to blindly follow what his leader told him to do. But the well mannered young man inside him told him that the girl needed protecting, that maybe she wasn’t as evil as Maggie would like him to believe.
The troop of five soldiers behind him fell into step as they approached the residential area where Joyce Summers lived with her only daughter. Riley prayed that they wouldn’t find Buffy there.
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you as always to Mari for being the wonderful person she is :) Thank you to everyone for all the support I've gotten on this story, it means a lot to me and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!