Chapter Forty-Six
The furore in the press after the interview was screened exceeded their worst fears. There were calls for all vampires to be put down and one poor tracker, out on the hunt for a missing child, was dusted when he was shot with a bolt from a crossbow.
They all shuddered to think what would have happened to Spike if Willow hadn’t teleported him out of the clutches of the police. Despite their whereabouts being secret, none of them felt safe. After two tense days in the cramped room at the Travelodge, Willow contacted the Watcher’s Council, called in some favours and got Spike, Buffy, the boys and herself transport on a cargo flight to Chicago.
Maurice and Dora had thanked Willow for the offer of going with them to the States, but opted to stay in the UK. They planned to return to their cottage. Dora had taken Mark under her wing and so it was decided that he would stay with them.
Only Riley decided to be alone. Living in close proximity to Spike for several days led the man to realise that the vampire was a creature as deserving of humane treatment as a human was, and the knowledge of his previous cruelty weighed heavy on him. The Carmichael’s feared for his mental health and tried to subtly hint that counselling might be in order.
The final thing that Willow did before they left for the States was to take Gunn to a large, privately run hospital in London. She stayed long enough to give the shocked medical staff the details of Gunn’s condition and the fact that the Initiative had drugs that should enable him to recover.
Once she was reunited with the others, they settled down in their seats for the long flight to Chicago.
*~*~*~*
“Nothing’s really changed, has it?” Cameron was the first to put into words what the others were all thinking. “I mean, we’re in the States again, but we’re still hiding from the Initiative. The inquiry in the UK could take months.”
“I know, honey…I just don’t see what else we can do.” Buffy closed her eyes, hating feeling so helpless.
“I do.” Spike’s quiet voice made all turn to look at him. “I give myself up.”
“No!” Willow, Buffy and the boys all yelled at once.
“Think about it. It’s me they really want.”
“You’re giving up too?” Cam’s voice quivered with anger as he struggled to his feet. “I’m like this ‘cause I wanted you back, and now you’d just walk back to them and let them do whatever they wanted?”
They watched in silence as the boy made his way to the door in a terrible parody of storming out of the room. Finally at the doorway, he turned back. I thought you loved us, Spike?” With a sob, he lurched out of sight.
Spike was on his feet in an instant, he stared at the others. “I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just I hate that you’re all in danger because of me. I just want you to be able to get on with your lives.”
Buffy reached out and took his hand. “Well maybe without you there, we wouldn’t be able to get on with life.”
Covering his face with his free hand, Spike shook his head. “Christ! It’s all such a mess! I don’t know what to do.”
“Go tell Cam that you love him.” Buffy smiled up at him. “He needs you. We all need you.”
When he nodded, Buffy let go of his hand and he could sense her watching as he walked out of the room as slowly as Cameron had. He found him out on the porch staring out over the moonlit lake. Spike had to smile; the Council certainly had homes in desirable places.
“Hey,” he said softly as he walked up behind Cam. “I think you should sit down.” Spike could see the effort standing there was taking out of the boy.
With a grunt, Cam turned around and leaned back on the rail. “I don’t want to have to sit down, ‘cause I can’t stand up for more than few minutes!”
Spike recoiled as if struck. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
“Why are you sorry? You didn’t do this to me, Spike. It’s not your fault! It’s theirs and you just want to give up and go back. And if you did, I’d still be like this but you wouldn’t be here and…and…” His face crumpled and as he brought his hand up to hide his face, his legs gave out.
Spike caught him and eased him down into one of the chairs that were scattered along the porch.
“I’m here, okay? I won’t go back.”
“Promise?” Cam stared up at him, tears clumping up his long eyelashes.
“I promise. But…” Spike stood up and stared at the lake like Cam had, as if the body of water held all the answers they were looking for. He turned round to see Cam watching him closely.
“But what?”
“But, I’m going to have to go away for a little bit.” He strode back to Cam and knelt down in front of him. “I promise you that I will be coming back. There’s plenty of my blood in the fridge so make sure you keep taking it.”
“Where are you going?” Even as Cam asked, he knew that Spike wouldn’t tell him, and sure enough the vampire shook his head.
“Can’t tell you that.”
“When are you going?”
Spike took a deep breath and stood up. “Now. Look after your mum, yeah? And tell her…tell her I’m putting Plan B into action.” Without looking back, Spike strode off the porch and disappeared into the darkness.
“Spike!” Cam struggled to his feet. “Spike!”
No answer was forthcoming. Cameron grimaced as he hauled himself to his feet and shuffled inside.
“Mom! Aunt Willow!”
Craig made it to him first. “What’s going on? Are you alright?”
“Spike’s gone.”
Frowning Willow said, “What do you mean? Spike’s gone?”
“I mean he’s gone as in he’s not freaking here!”
“Cameron!” Buffy glared at him. “Respect you aunt, please.”
Chastened, he muttered sorry while glancing at Willow, before he looked up at his mother, eyes so full of anguish that Buffy thought her heart would break.
“He said he had to go away for a while. Said to tell you that he’s putting Plan B into action. What’s Plan B, Mom?”
Buffy’s fist’s clenched. “The arrogant son of a bitch. He’s going after Walsh. We were supposed to go together.”
“But she’s in England. I don’t understand.” Cam glanced at them in turn.
“He must have heard,” Craig said, as if that explained everything.
“Heard what? Will someone tell me what’s going on?”
It was Willow who spoke. “Walsh is back in the US. We just saw it on the news. She’s staying in a secret location for her own protection. The authorities in the UK seem to have accepted that the head of the English branch was at fault – not her. They said they expected her to be fully exonerated by the time the inquiry is complete.”
“We’re not going to see him again, are we?” Cam, once again, voiced the fear that they were all thinking.
Buffy wrapped her arms around her son, partly to comfort him and partly to keep him from collapsing. “We will. He’ll be back.”
She just wished she believed it. If Spike had been a cat, he would have more than used up his nine lives by now – how many more chances could he take and get away with?
Later that night, as the others slept or at least attempted to, Buffy sat on the bed, legs hugged to her chest and tried not to think murderous thoughts about her lover. She could understand why he’d gone alone, but was finding it hard to forgive him sloping off without saying goodbye, without allowing them to help find the goddamn woman. The lack of his presence caused an ache in her heart that she knew would remain there until he returned…if he did return…if his mission was successful. She longed to go after him, but her boys needed her and as Willow had pointed out, Spike really needed to do this himself. His sanity depended on it.
“Oh, Spike…be careful. We need you,” she whispered.
*~*~*~*
Spike had been gone for six weeks. He’d called twice. Both times simply saying he was okay to whoever answered the telephone before hanging up. Somehow the calls made Buffy worry more about him, not less.
Cam was lying on his bed after taking the last dose of Spike’s blood when Craig wandered in and casually flopped down in the armchair opposite.
“Cam?”
“Yeah?”
“Remember what you said in England…?”
“Need more of a clue than that,” said Cam with a smile, even though he knew exactly what Craig was referring to.
“Uh…it was when you said that…um…my elbow…”
Cam decided to put him out of his misery.
“Me operating on it?”
“Yeah.” After a pause, Craig added, “So do you think it would work?”
“It might. But we have a bit of a problem.” Cam pointed to the empty cup on the bedside table. “We don’t have any vampire blood left. I’ve just taken the last of the stuff Spike left.”
“I know. But it doesn’t have to be his, does it? Mom was a slayer. I’m sure she can track another one down.”
“Don’t think it’s likely to want to become a blood donor out of the goodness of its heart,” Cam said, acutely aware that that was exactly why Spike had given his blood.
“I know that! But I’m sure Aunt Willow can do something.”
“I’m not sure I want them to know what I’m going to do. Don’t want them to look at me like a freak ‘cause my head’s still crammed with knowledge the Initiative planted.”
“You are a freak, Cam. Always have been.”
Craig grinned and caught the pillow that Cam threw at him.
“You know what I mean!”
“I know.” Craig sobered. “I thought maybe we could say you wanted the blood since you haven’t got any left.”
“We could, but…” He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “The last two doses haven’t hurt me.”
“That’s good.” Craig noticed Cam’s expression. “Isn’t it?”
“Remember the old workout saying ‘no pain-no gain’?”
“Yeah.”
“Seems the vamp blood works like that. Last two doses – not a hint of pain – and not a hint of any improvement.” Cam met Craig’s eyes. “This is as good as it gets.”
“Oh, man.” Craig stood up. “And here’s me moaning about my wonky arm. Look, forget it, okay.”
“No!” Cam’s voice was only just short of a yell. “I can fix you!”
“You sure you want to do this?”
“Why wouldn’t I? You think I wouldn’t want to help you, ‘cause I’m still fucked up?”
“Uh…no…yes…oh Christ, I don’t know!”
“Craig,” Cam said firmly. “Go tell Mom I need more vampire blood. And I’ll try to work out how I can get us inside an operating theatre.”
He waited until his brother left the room, before getting up from the bed. He no longer needed his sticks, but he had a pronounced limp – one that got worse when he got tired. The difference between his injury and Craig’s was that his wouldn’t prevent him from following his dream career. The medical knowledge they gave him would actually benefit him too. He limped out the bedroom and made his way to the study.
Activating the computer, Cam’s fingers tapped impatiently as he waited for it to boot up. He typed a word into the search engine and scrolled down the list, knowing exactly what he needed to see, and grinned when he found it.
Two days later, under the guise of going to the cinema, the boys left the confines of the Council’s house. Craig carried a rucksack with several plastic bottles of vampire blood in it. Cam grumpily carried his stick, but knew he’d need it later. Several blocks from the house, they flagged down a cab. They sat in silence for the short journey, exchanging looks when the cab pulled up outside of the front entrance of the small building.
Craig paid the driver and the pair clambered out onto the sidewalk. They stared up at the sign.
“I can’t believe I’m going to let you operate on me in a veterinarian’s surgery!”
Cam chuckled. “That’s better than the ‘I can’t believe I’m going to let you operate on me’ I’ve heard up to now. I told you – there is no way that we could get into an operating theatre without Aunt Willow’s help. This…well, all we need to do is break in.”
Raising an eyebrow, Craig glanced at his brother. “That all? I swear Spike’s blood must have had some side effects. You used to be such a bloody goody-goody.”
“Did not!” Cam punched his brother’s arm.
“Did too!”
“Did…oh we haven’t got time for this. Go round the back and break in already!”
Craig’s eyes widened. “Me?”
“Yes, you. I’ve seen the plans for this place. There is a small window at the back that goes into where the kennels are. It’s not alarmed, but it’s six feet off the ground. I can’t do it – so you have to. Then you can let me in the door at the side where the deliveries are made.”
“Yes, boss!” Craig clicked his heels together and saluted before loping off round the back of the building with an ease that made Cam squeeze his eyes shut. No matter how he tried to convince himself that his lameness wasn’t a big deal, it still hurt to see the ease that others moved around with.
Several tense minutes later and they were in. Cam’s extensive research had found them the ideal place to use. No staff remained on the premises at night unless there was any pets in for nursing. A few telephone calls had told them that the place would be empty tonight. Cam knew the layout of the building, so he led the way to the operating theatre.
“Sure you still want to go ahead with this?” Cam asked, giving his brother an out before he started.
“Yeah. Got to be worth a try.”
He took out the sleeping draught that Cam had asked Willow for, claiming that he was unable to sleep due to the pain in his limbs after taking more vampire blood. Raising it, as if toasting Cam, Craig then downed it in one large gulp and lay down waiting for its effect to begin.
A minute later, Cam prodded his brother with the tip of a scalpel blade and when there was no reaction, he went to work. Cam disinfected the site of the operation before he scrubbed up. He pulled on a pair of sterile latex gloves and carefully laid out the instruments he’d selected from the bags of sterilised equipment he’d discovered in a drawer.
“Okay. Here goes.”
With a confidence he could only put down to channelling the doctor’s memories, Cam made a long incision in the skin on the outer edge of Craig’s elbow. He worked rapidly. The sleeping draught would only last a couple of hours at most. It took all of his courage to re-break the joint and begin to correct the mess that the other surgeries had left behind. He poured vampire blood into the joint before he set it and began to close up the wounds. A drip leading to the back of Craig’s left hand fed more vampire blood directly into his vein.
Shaking with exhaustion, Cam managed to pull in a chair from the waiting room to sit in as he watched Craig for signs of regaining consciousness. The twenty minutes he took to stir were the longest that Cam had endured. The sleeping potion had lasted for two and a half hours.
Craig groaned loudly as he sat up. “Oh man, my head. It’s like the hangover from hell.”
Cam chuckled. “You should know – you’ve had enough hangovers. How’s your arm feeling?”
Staring at his right arm as if he’d forgotten that was the reason they were there, he flexed his fingers. “Uh…doesn’t hurt, anyway.” The arm was encased in thick bandages, keeping him from being able to move it from the angle it was set at.
Deciding that he’d maybe not better tell his brother that he’d given him a shot of painkiller in his ass, Cam smiled. “That’s good. Do you think you can walk now? I don’t want to stay here any longer than we have to.”
Tentatively, Craig swung his legs over the edge of the table, holding the edge of it with his left hand. “I think so.” He wobbled a little but then got his balance.
“Come on then.” Cam picked up the bag and glanced around the room. He’d washed off all the instruments and disposed of the drip he’d used. Hopefully, the owners wouldn’t realise quite what their burglars had been up to.
“Time to face the music,” said Craig, pulling the sling on his arm straight as they got out of the cab.
“Yeah.” Cam swallowed hard and then limped up the path to the front door, leaning on his stick.
“We’re back,” Craig called out brightly as they closed the door behind themselves.
“Did you enjoy the mo—” Buffy’s eyes widened as she saw Craig’s bandaged arm. “Your arm!”
“Look, don’t freak out, Mom, but—”
“Willow!” Buffy yelled, cutting off Craig’s protests.
“I’m here.” Willow’s head popped out the kitchen doorway. “What? Oh!”
Buffy whirled around. That ‘oh’ had been loaded with understanding. “You know something about this?”
“Not exactly, but I guessed it might happen eventually. Let’s all sit and have a hot drink.”
With a scowl at her sons, Buffy stalked into the kitchen and sat at the table. Cam and Craig sat opposite her as Willow put milk into a pan to heat.
“Hot chocolate,” she said, “that’s what we need.”
“What I need is an explanation.” Buffy’s voice was a growl.
Seeing the boys quailing in the face of their mother’s anger, Willow sat down and said, “I’m guessing that Cameron has operated on Craig’s elbow.”
“You’re guessing?” Buffy’s eyebrows climbed towards her hairline.
“I had thought that they’d come to me for help, but there was no way that Cam wouldn’t try to help his brother, not when he has all that knowledge just waiting to be used.”
Cam’s eyes got big. “You know about the memories?”
Willow nodded. “I suspected they’d stay there.”
“You mean what the Initiative forced into your brain is still there?” Buffy shuddered.
“Yeah, but it’s a good thing. I’ve always wanted to be a surgeon and now I know I can be. I can use that knowledge for good, Mom, not evil. I’ll be helping people.”
“Newsflash,” said Craig with a grin. “He already is a surgeon. I was his guinea pig. Don’t be angry with him. My arm couldn’t have been much worse and if it works…”
“Oh, I’m not angry, you young fools! I just wish you had told me. No secrets between us – not after all we’ve been through.”
The milk began to boil and Willow shot up before it spilled over. When made, they sipped their hot chocolate in silence, all of them wondering where Spike was and if he was okay.
*~*~*~*
Spike stared up at the building and grinned broadly. Finally, he’d tracked down Professor Walsh’s location. He slipped in the front door as someone was leaving, keeping his head down as he strode to the elevator. He pushed the button and watched as the lights flicked on for the floors as the elevator rose. One…two…three…four… At five the doors opened with a ping, and Spike glanced up to see which way he had to go.
Going to the left, as indicated by the sign, Spike paused at the door that stood between himself and his nemesis. The room number was 517. He smirked as he tapped lightly on its surface. Seventeen had found his way back to his creator.
She opened the door and lost her customary cool demeanour and shrieked when she saw who was standing at the threshold.
“You!”
“Hello, Maggie.” Spike smiled sweetly at the woman who had ordered his eyes to be torn from their sockets; whose face was the last thing they’d seen.
“How did you find me? Who did you pay off? I’ll have them—”
“You’re not gonna be in a position to give anyone any more orders, Maggie. You’re coming with me.”
“Oh? And you think I’m stupid enough to invite you in? One call and you’ll be back in the program. I lost my experiments because of you. Maybe I’ll see just how much of you I can amputate before you dust?”
“Oh, Maggie, Maggie, Maggie,” said Spike as he strolled casually into the apartment.
“How can you…?” Walsh backed off, glancing at the telephone on the sideboard.
With vampiric speed, Spike wrenched the cord from the wall and threw it to the floor. “You don’t own this apartment, do you?”
Her hands flew to her mouth. “My God, you killed the owner! Proves you are truly evil! I was right! Vampires should be neutralised!”
“For fuck’s sake!” Spike grabbed the woman’s shoulders being careful not to squeeze tight enough to bruise her skin.
“The soul that got put back in me won’t let me kill anymore, even if I wanted to. But…it doesn’t mind if I intimidate someone into signing the apartment over to me for an evening. No, it doesn’t mind that at all.”
That wasn’t quite true as remorse washed over him at the thought of the poor old man he’d left tied to a chair once he’d written the slip of paper that would enable Spike to enter without being invited. All the more reason to get this over and done with so he could get back to let the man go and tear up the change of ownership document.
“Soul? Please. Don’t hurt me…I can—”
Spike shook her, hard enough to make her teeth rattle.
“Shut the fuck up and you’ll live. Come on, we’re taking a walk.”
He transferred his grip to her left arm, so he could hold her with the hand that still had the prosthetic thumb. With Maggie jogging to keep up, he guided her to the stairwell, pushing through the heavy door and coming to a halt at the top step.
“Um…I just need you to know that I was lying.” The look he gave Walsh made her stomach lurch.
“What? What do you mean?”
“The bit about you living. Not gonna happen. I just want you to know one thing. What I’m going to do is because of what you did to Cam and Craig. Not me. I’m a demon. I know it. Not saying I deserved what you did…but can sort of see why you couldn’t resist doing it. But hurting humans. My family. Big mistake, lady.
“Your family? They will never be your family! They’ll see you for what you are! Let go of me!”
“Okay,” said Spike.
“What?” Maggie staggered as he let go of her arm.
“I really wanted to bite you, but my fangs aren’t what they used to be, and I didn’t want vampires to be blamed for your death. Such a tragic accident.” Spike shook his head sadly.
Backing up, Maggie said, “I don’t know what you mean?”
She glanced at the stairs and decision made she whirled around and began to race down them. Spike’s manic laughter echoed in the stairwell as he raced after her, the old thrill of the hunt racing through him.
He caught her easily, before she’d even gotten halfway down to the fourth floor. He grabbed her head, twisted it violently and let go, breathing heavily as he watched her lifeless body tumble head over heels down the steps.
Tragic accident. People can so easily break their necks when they miss their footing.
And his soul didn’t protest at all.
*~*~*~*
Three weeks later, Buffy sat in the garden of her home and watched as Craig slammed pitch after pitch into the nets that they’d made in the far corner.
“Honey, don’t overdo it. It’s getting dark, let’s go inside.”
“’Kay, Mom.” Craig was unable to resist one last pitch.
“You throw like a girl.”
The sardonic English voice coming from the deep shadow at the side of the house, made both turn round and then yell out.
“Spike!”
Buffy made it to him first, slamming against his body with the force of one of Craig’s pitches. Spike grunted as his back hit the wall with a thud.
“Jeez, woman, yo—”
He got no further as her lips met his. One hand wrapped around her waist, the other cupped the back of her head, tangling in her hair. She pulled away, panting.
“I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered against her ear, causing her whole body to tingle.
“I saw on the news about Maggie.”
“Shh…don’t want to hear her name. It’s over. I just need to be back with you. Sorry it took so long to get back.” He bent his knees so he could look her in the eyes. “You still want me?” He cocked an eyebrow and smiled a touch nervously.
For an answer she took his hand and led him inside. His invite, never revoked, meant he could walk in unhindered.
“Hey, Spike?” Craig called from behind him.
Spike glanced at him over his shoulder.
“Welcome home!”
He nodded in acknowledgement and then laughed as Buffy tugged impatiently at his hand. By the time Craig had reached the kitchen, the door to his mom and Spike’s bedroom had slammed shut and he turned the radio on. He really didn’t need to hear the soundtrack of their reunion.
So much had happened since the death of Maggie Walsh had been announced. With her hold over them gone, more and more employees came forward to offer their evidence to the inquiry. Just over a week ago the Initiative had been formally taken over by the Watcher’s Council.
The trackers and hunters in both the UK and USA had been given the option of continuing their duties with alteration to the reward system. No longer would their rewards be sexual in nature. Or they could retire from duty and live out their existence in the new retirement premises that were being built. Most opted to keep working. Final death was given to numerous vampires who where just too badly damaged to be allowed to suffer.
Out of the Initiative, the system reverted to the old one. A slayer hunting and staking any vampires that threatened humans. The number of ‘free’ vampires was small, and so far there had been no incidents of vampire activity causing any trouble.
Craig glanced at his watch. Cam was late. Frowning, he walked to the living room and peered out the window. His face split into a grin when he saw him at the end of the path holding hands with a petite, dark-haired girl who Craig recognised from Cam’s class. As he watched, Cam leaned forward tentatively and kissed her.
“Way to go, little brother.”
Ducking out of sight as they parted and Cam made his way to the front house.
“I’m home! Sorry I’m late,” called Cam as he took off his jacket and put his bag on the floor. “I was studying and—”
“That what they call it now?” Craig leered at him.
Cam flushed. “You were watching? You pervert!”
“Better than listening.”
“Huh?”
“Spike’s home and he and Mom are…”
A thud came from the bedroom. Both boys glanced up and then stared at each other.
“Pizza?” Cam said hopefully.
“Damn straight.” Craig snatched up the car keys from the dish on the table, and then paused, before writing a note and sticking it on the refrigerator.
Gone out for pizza. Hope we’re not back before you see this!
*~*~* The end *~*~*
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Beta and Banner by the talented dawnofme!
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