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Chapter 32 – All Aboard


Spike stayed where he was, listening to the sound of Buffy’s car driving away, carrying her further away from him. Unable to move, he closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on his breathing and fighting everything inside of him to not run after her, begging her forgiveness.

“Strong man,” Ethan said, stepping into the room when the sounds of the car faded into the distance. “Letting a woman like that go.”

Turning toward the other man, Spike glowered at him. “Thought you didn’t like her, mate,” he replied, arching an eyebrow in response.

“Regardless of my personal feelings for her, I’ve seen who she truly is.”

“And who’s that?” Spike asked irritably.

“A woman in love,” he replied plainly, seeing Spike’s shoulders tense in response. “One who, coincidentally, isn’t after your money or what you can bring to her. Rarity in this town. Like I said- strong man to let her go.”

Avoiding Ethan’s gaze, Spike looked at the floor, taking a few deep breaths. “I could never make her happy,” he said, almost to himself.

“Guess we’ll never know,” Ethan replied, turning and walking out of the room.

* * * * *

Buffy walked into her house feeling numb. Her eyes were puffy and swollen from crying on the way home, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed and wile away the hours until the pain receded.

Making it halfway up the stairs, she stopped when the shrill sound of the phone ringing filled the house. Briefly closing her eyes, she turned and walked back downstairs, grabbing the closest phone.

“Hello?”

“Miss Summers.”

Hearing the sound of the familiar accent, Buffy stiffened slightly, instinctively looking around her house in a protective maneuver.

“What do you want, Ethan?” she asked, her voice turning hard and cold in a matter of seconds.

“Tell Rupert that Spike will take the deal.”

Feeling the air leaving her lungs, Buffy grabbed the railing of the stairs, slowly lowering herself to one of the bottom steps. “He agreed?” she asked quietly.

“No,” Ethan replied. “I’m authorizing it. Head of security and all, and no one needs more security in this matter than William Reed. Tell Giles that I will sign any papers he needs as long as he has some form of back-up tomorrow night.”

“What’s tomorrow?” Buffy asked, knowing that Giles had never mentioned anything.

“Spike is going after Angelus. Alone.”

“Oh, God,” she murmured, feeling her stomach churn violently. “When?” she asked, running a hand through her hair.

“Twenty-four hours and change.”

“Ethan, if you want me to help him, I need an exact time and location,” she said, gritting her teeth in frustration.

“Two o’clock in the morning,” he replied. “An old warehouse in downtown Los Angeles… it belongs to Angelus, and he and Hamilton have plans to move some of the ‘merchandise’ that is located inside without being detected.”

“Just O’Neill and Hamilton?” Buffy asked, fisting the hand in her hair as her nerves continued to wreak havoc.

“The only ones who have been confirmed to me,” Ethan replied.

“How do you know this?”

“I have a contact… knows Angelus.”

“Who?” she asked, waiting impatiently for his answer. “Ethan, my phone is secure- it was checked recently… who?”

“Gunn.”

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Buffy nodded to herself. “I need to know how to get there.”

* * * * *

“And you’re sure he said yes?” Giles asked, seeing Buffy shift uncomfortably in the seat next to him as they drove toward downtown L.A.

“Yep, Spike’s onboard- full force,” she lied, swallowing hard as she thought about leaving him the night before.

“And he knows about the meeting tonight?” Giles asked.

“He… He should,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I couldn’t get in touch with him today.”

‘Another somewhat harmless white lie… I hope.’

“Buffy-”

“Giles, I know that you want something on paper. I know that you want everything to run smoothly. I know all of this, but please trust me- if Spike is able to get to Angelus before we do, everything will be taken care of.”

“I would feel more comfortable about this if you’d tell me the source of your information.”

“Then he wouldn’t be a source,” Buffy replied, looking out the window.

“So, the source is a ‘he’,” Giles said, seemingly proud of himself.

“Very good, Giles,” Buffy said with a smile. “You’ve just narrowed down my informant to roughly half of the world’s population.”

“It’s important that I know,” he said, ignoring her teasing.

“And I know you, Giles. If I tell you this before the fact, then there won’t be an after the fact.”

“Was that English?”

“No, it was American,” she said sarcastically, knowing that she couldn’t distract him that easily.

“I’m serious, Buffy, I want to know who it is. What if he’s a double agent?”

“Okay, but if I tell you this, I want you to promise that you won’t get all paternally father-like and Gilesy, okay?”

Glancing over at her, Giles heaved a deep sigh before nodding. “You have my word.”

“It’s Ethan Rayne.”

“What?!”

“You promised,” she reminded him.

“Buffy-”

“Giles, Ethan said he would handle everything. Head of security, remember?”

“I know who he is, Buffy.”

“He said that he would handle the paperwork, etcetera and so on. I think he’s worried about Spike.”

“He has practically raised him,” Giles muttered, almost to himself, seeing the woman next to him turn toward him in surprise.

“He has?”

“Well, no, not really,” Giles replied, not wanting to offer more information than that, but knowing Buffy wouldn’t allow him to ignore it. “He’s… influenced Spike.”

‘Molded him into who he wanted him to be.’ Buffy frowned at the thought.

“Ethan said Spike will go in alone. No outside help of any kind or it could get more dangerous,” she said, deciding it was time to change the subject. “You’ll be outside with the cavalry-”

“As will you,” Giles reminded her.

“Oh… right,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm.

“Buffy…”

Hearing the warning note in Giles’ voice, Buffy glanced at her boss, offering him a sheepish smile.

“You are not to go in that building for any reason, do you understand?”

“You know I can’t just sit outside, Giles,” she said, letting him hear the truth behind her words.

“That’s an order, Agent,” he replied, his voice getting colder.

“This is personal,” she said, looking at him with pleading eyes.

“Just because Spike-”

“Not Spike,” she said, shaking her head. “Spike’s only a small part of it. Angelus,” she continued, clarifying it for the older man. “He took something from me, Giles. Something I can never get back.”

“We’re not in the revenge business, Buffy.”

“Well, maybe we should be!” she cried, her nerves setting her on edge. “He almost killed me. He killed my child-”

“We can’t just-”

“You’re right,” she said with a nod. “We can’t. But I’m not sitting outside while Spike might need some help. I’m not letting Angelus get away.”

Hearing the resolve in her voice, Giles sighed. “We’ll work something out when we get there,” he said, staring at the endless road that was stretched in front of them.

Smiling softly, Buffy’s shoulders relaxed as she nodded. “Thank you.”







Thanks so much to: spuffette, Elanor, 3988Akasha, BuffyandSpikeForever, ChrissieLinnit, Kimber, Brittany, Tahmoe, Wikka Tara, Liz, H, Whitelighter354, Cordykitten, Chelsea, demona424, Megan, B, phantomwriter, Opal, Becky, jennybean, Jessica, denise, txjmfan, sue, willowmouse, flibble, baby spikes, irishwoman39, Franchesca & Caitie for reviewing!





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