“Will, do you have a really long minute?” Buffy asked as she entered the shop. She’d left Dawn in the back, practicing on the punching bag.
She had to get what happened between her and Spike off her chest. Every detail…well, not every detail. But, maybe more than just the fact that it happened. Many times. And that she…missed it. Well, not the violence factor. That, she could do without. But the her-and-Spike factor. Them. Together.
Willow looked up from the book on magic Katherine had given her. “Sure, Buffy.” She put it down, “What’s on your mind?”
“The me-Spike-sex thing.” Buffy sat across from the redhead at the reading table, gauging her friend’s face for her reaction.
“The-oh. Oh! You want to talk about that?”
The Slayer nodded. “Um, yeah…why not?”
“I just…well, I thought that it might be something you didn’t want to talk about. Ever.”
“It’s…it’s not. Think Xander’s wiping it from his memory. That it happened. Many, many…” Buffy grinned, catching the look on Willow’s face.
“I think Buffy liked.” Willow teased good-naturedly.
“Buffy did like.” The Slayer confirmed. Willow raised an eyebrow in amusement. “A lot.” A smile broke out on the redhead’s face. “The thing is-“
“You want to know if you should love him?” Willow guessed correctly.
Buffy nodded and Willow sighed.
“Buffy, I can’t make the decision for you. There’s this crazy thing where it has to be your decision. If you love Spike, it’s got to be because you find something worthwhile in him, not because I say, ‘Yes, Buffy. You should love Spike.’”
“I-I need something.”
“How about a list?”
“What?”
“A list. A very uncomplicated thing you can do to see what you like about him.”
Buffy nodded, watching Willow reach into her bag and pull out a pen and paper. The Slayer took it and sat for several moments.
What did she like about him? She liked…his smile. It was cute and charming and it made her feel warm inside, because he didn’t do it a lot. But when he did…it made her feel like she did yesterday night. Hopelessly in love. And it wasn’t a bad feeling.
Willow smiled, seeing her answer and picked up her book to give her friend privacy. She’d just look later.
What else could she write? Perceptiveness. He seemed to be able to see her. Not just the slayer. Not just the girl. But the bigger picture. The fact that they both made her who she was. She’d never be like she was in high school ever again. And he knew this. Probably appreciated it.
His eyes. They were the windows to his soul. Even if he lacked one at the moment. If you looked hard enough, paid enough attention, it was easy to tell what he was thinking and how he felt. Buffy hadn’t actually looked until the wedding.
She continued writing and Willow peeked over the top of her book, smiling as the pro column out shadowed the cons. Simple things like his smoking, drinking or watching an unhealthy amount of Passions claimed the list and Willow knew her friend was in love.
“Done.” Buffy said, nearly an hour later. Willow looked up from her book and Tara came from behind the counter.
The redhead took the sheet of paper as Tara came to sit next to her girlfriend and Buffy shifted nervously.
Dawn came from the back room then, looking more energized than usual.
“What’s up?” She asked, interested in the paper and sitting down next to Buffy.
“I made a list.” Buffy answered, watching the two witches smile as they read it.
“List? For what?”
“What Buffy likes about Spike.” Willow said, holding up the sheet of paper so that the teenager could clearly see the list.
“Well, I’m no expert, but I think you’re in love with Spike.” Dawn said, Willow and Tara nodding in agreement.
Buffy gave a small smile. “I know.”
“In that case, I hope you can tell him.” Tara said, smiling back. Just weeks ago they’d had a conversation where the blonde witch had told the slayer that it was okay to love him and now she was admitting it.
“I will.” Buffy said, standing up. “Just…maybe when they come back.”
Willow smiled at Buffy, nodding encouragingly. “Do that.”
“I will.”
An hour later, Spike and Katherine were finally packed.
The demi-god was fairly unnerved, though she hid it well. Spike and Buffy had this…this thing between them. Something that not even more than a century of friendship could reach. And then, there was that stupid vision that wouldn’t go away no matter how much she wanted it to.
Don’t think about it. Just pack, road trip and have a good time with Spike.
And why did she continuously call him that? Spike. He was Will. Or William to her, damn it. She hadn’t called him Spike since eighteen eighty-two, why did she have to start now?
She yanked the duffel bag off her bed. “No need to get my knickers in a twist over it. It’s irrelevant at the moment.”
Spike was waiting for her in the living room with his own bag. He had his traditional outfit, red shirt included for Angel’s benefit. Katherine had also dressed for the occasion, wearing all black, with a black shirt belonging to Spike and a red top under.
“This ought to be fun.” Katherine said as they left the penthouse. She locked the door behind them and they boarded the elevator. “So, we’re going via the nice motorcycle you’ve got?”
“Being you’ve never thought of buying a car, yeah.”
“Yeah, it’s a pisser. Sue me.” Katherine said as they left the building, following him to the parked motorcycle.
The entire Angel Investigations team, now including the addition of a Texan named Winifred Burkle, was in the lobby, doing various things.
Angel and Gunn were cleaning weapons after handling one of Cordelia’s visions. The seer herself sat on the lounge in the center of the room, flipping through a magazine. Fred sat beside her; hurriedly writing on a notepad and Wesley seemed to be filing the case just solved.
They were all disturbed when the doors flew open, hitting the walls with a crack. All five turned to look at the devious newcomers.
Cordelia was the first to react about the bleached blonde, standing and saying, “Great, Spike’s back with a new-“
Her insult for the female on his arm was at the tip of her tongue when she suddenly flew back into Gunn, taking them both to the floor.
“Not nice to insult your elders.” Katherine said. Yes, it was wrong, but she couldn’t help it. Needling Angel could be mean, wrong and disgraceful, but it was something to do.
“Angelus,” she grinned, trying to play at least a little dim to his souled status. Not that it was possible, after talking to Stace, Darla and Drusilla.
“Katherine.” Angel said stiffly as Gunn and Cordelia rose to their feet.
“You know, they told me you were all soul having, but I can’t believe they were right. I mean, you don’t even call me Kat anymore.” She sighed. It was the truth, though. The entire time she’d known Angelus, he’d called her Kat. Like she called Spike Will.
“You used to call me Kat. What happened, dear old friend?”
Angel gave Katherine a look. “Katherine, we’re not friends.”
Katherine raised an eyebrow and scoffed. With the memories of seventeen fifty-three and after, that was a big pile of steaming crap.
“I beg to differ. Soul or not, I’ve known you since you were a fledgling.” Katherine walked until she was toe-to-toe with the souled vampire.
Spike stayed behind, lounging by the door. He’d have jumped in, but it was more fun to watch Katherine when she was in one of her moods to mess with Angel. He could already tell it was going to be a fun week.
Katherine took in the thoughts she could hear running through Angel’s head. Not only was she hurt, but also really angry that he could be stupid enough to think that. And she went so far as to tell him that.
“You are such an asshole!” She accused, continuing, “How can you think that just ‘cause you had a soul, I’d turn you in to the Master or something?” She followed her explanation by cuffing him over the back of the head, telling herself that maybe she should calm down.
The others were confused. Who was this blonde that seemed to know Angel so well? Was she a vampire? Or something else entirely?
Katherine turned to the others. “Um, Cordelia? Sorry about the…tossing. I’m not actually evil…per se. I work for the Powers That Be, if that helps.”
“And Spike?” Angel spared the bleached blonde a glance. Spike smirked, causing Angel to narrow his eyes.
Katherine frowned. “Two words.” She pushed her hair out her face. “With. Me. I see a stake, cross, crossbow, or vial of holy water and I won’t be joking around anymore.” Her voice became dangerously low, ensuring that she meant every word she’d said in her warning.
“Fine, Katherine. Why are you, and Spike, here?” Angel asked, focusing on the petite blonde in front of him.
He hadn’t seen her in a while and he did wonder where he’d gotten the notion that he couldn’t trust her. But, she was hanging with Spike. And, yeah, he knew Katherine well enough to know she was only evil when provoked. Angelus knew Katherine well enough for that. And he knew how she felt about Spike. Why, was beyond him, but it was there and very much real.
“Because,” Katherine grinned at him and he instantly had a feeling he wouldn’t like the answer. And, of course, he was right.
“You’re going to let us stay here.”
“Which vampire?” The brunette female asked, raising her crossbow to aim. She switched back and forth between the two potential targets, waiting for her cue.
She didn’t want to do this. But, she’d had a choice to make. And she’d chosen what mattered most to her, because that’s what survivors did. Made sure that they came out on top.
“Angel, or Spike?”
“Spike.” The male, her superior, said, also watching from their position in the upstairs hall. “Distract her first.”
She shrugged and took fire. “A demi-god.” Faith grinned. “Wicked cool.”
A small whistling noise barely stood out to Katherine as she grinned at Angel. She shoved him off his feet and was by Spike in seconds, pulling him over the back of the counter as two arrows embedded themselves where the vampires had been seconds before.
“Do you bring trouble everywhere you go, Kat?” Angel called out from his place behind the lounge with Gunn. Wesley was behind the counter with Katherine and Spike and he was trying to thin of a way to get to Cordelia and Fred who were trying to get to him.
“Not usually.” She paused, “Hey, you called me Kat!”
Not exactly an important topic at the moment, Katherine. Spike said and she rolled her eyes.
She then flipped over the counter, racing to help Cordelia and Fred out of the way of the darts, seeing as how Angel, Wesley and Gunn were already hidden.
Spike peeked over the counter, searching for where the arrows were coming from. He stood to his full height, spotting two figures, one shooting and the other just watching. “Kat-“
The three females fell, rolling by Angel and Gunn. They were hidden by the lounge, just as Spike yelled in pain.
Katherine flew to her feet, getting the mental warning, if not the verbal. She looked up, her eyes settling on the hall upstairs.
The team watched as her hair and eyes faded to lavender. Her entire demeanor changed as she raced up the banister of the stairs.
It was then that they noticed the shadows running through the hall upstairs. The first figure, the female shooter, disappeared just as they caught sight of the slower male sans weapon.
Katherine was on him in second. With a hard right to the jaw, he was rolling down the stairs to land at Angel’s feet. She walked down the stairs slowly, as Angel pulled the man to his feet.
“Who do you work for?” the soul-having vampire asked, though he was fairly sure he knew the answer to that question.
“I’ll die first.” The man responded.
Katherine knew in her subconscious that she had to check on Spike. That she couldn’t do this again, but her conscious told her to deal with the reason she needed to check on Spike. The one who attacked them. “That can be arranged, y’know.”
Her dagger appeared in her hand and she privately dared anyone to stop her. “I’ve got no problem killing you. I did two in for people I barely knew for a week. What do you think I’d do for my family?”
Family. Was that all Spike was now? Family? She hated this beyond belief. And the jerk in front of her and Angel helped none.
“You don’t have the guts.” The man sneered. Logically, he knew it was stupid to provoke the demi-god. A truly immortal being. But he couldn’t, wouldn’t, let himself be intimidated by a female.
Katherine gave an evil smirk. “Don’t be so sure of that.”
“Kath-“ Angel started, having an idea of where this was going. You didn’t know someone for nearly three hundred years and then forget his or her habits. Like the irrational impulses for violence against anyone who hurt her “family”.
“Angel, check on Spike for me.” Katherine interrupted, beyond negotiation. She didn’t like anything about this. The attack.
Before Angel could make a move, Fred hurried to the counter before anyone could stop her. Katherine had saved her life. Katherine also liked Spike. Therefore, Fred felt obligated to help.
“Tell me,” The lavender haired woman raised a thumb and began to put pressure on his eye. “Who…” she ignored his struggling as she pressed, “Do. You. Work. For.”
“Wolfram and Hart.”
Katherine pulled back, smiling, but her grin was not encouraging. “Now we’re getting somewhere.” She grabbed him by the throat, leaning to his ear. “What. Did. You. Do.”
“Spike?” Fred nudged the vampire and frowned when he didn’t answer. She shook him softly. “Spike?”
Yes, she knew she probably shouldn’t have run over, regardless of what Katherine did. But, if the blonde was a friend of Angel and Spike’s, she figured the bleached blonde was okay.
“There’s…poison on the arrows.”
Fred looked up as Wesley kneeled next to her. “Does poison work on vampires?”
“Certain ones, of the supernatural nature.”
“What poison?” Katherine tightened her grip on his throat as he choked, keeping her fear to herself even as Angel placed a hand on her arm.
“Killer of the dead.”
Angel wasn’t the only on that had bad experiences with the poison. Back before Darla’s continuation of the line, slayers were more interested in just killing and not technique. They felt the best way would be to shoot every vampire they came across, poison them and leave them to die.
For her, the sixteenth and seventeenth century had mostly been about saving vampires. The balance was important. Always.
She tightened her grip. “What?” She knew it then. She was going to kill him. She was going to kill that girl. She was going to kill every lawyer in Wolfram and Hart and she wouldn’t look back.
“Killer of the dead.” The man repeated, in pain.
“Who was the girl?”
“A chick named Faith.”
There was something to be appreciated about humans these days. They’d save their own hides first and not worry about anyone else’s.
“Thank you.” Without a second thought she snapped his neck. The body fell the floor with a horrifying thud to the humans and Angel. It disappeared and Katherine monotonously said, “Special delivery for Lilah Morgan.”
Fred and Wesley were slowly helping Spike stand. “Katherine?” the Texan questioned, unsure.
Katherine turned. “Spike.” She took the bleached blonde from the two, worried about the arrow as she carried him towards the stairs. “Now’s the time for a room, Angel.”
Angel followed her up the stairs, picking the closest unoccupied room. Katherine followed him inside, laying Spike on the bed as the vampire passed out from her yanking the arrow out.
She winced, taking off his jacket, shirt and boots. She then picked up the arrow and began to play with it, terribly wishing she’d skipped L.A.
Angel couldn’t exactly sympathize with Spike, what with the memory of hot pokers but he felt for Katherine. And he expressed that, touching her shoulder in a calming way. “Katherine, you’ll cure him.”
Katherine scoffed and turned to look at Spike. “It’s the Killer of the Dead. It’s not like Buffy can do it, she’s all the way in Sunnydale and-“ she stood up, turning to look at Angel with hard lavender eyes, tears done.
As the thought came to mind, she broke the deadly arrow into pieces, and evil smirk claming her face. A cold glint twinkled in her eye. “And there’s always Faith, who just made a dangerous mistake.”
Buffy felt unbelievably refreshed. Willow knew, Dawn knew and Tara knew. She’d tell Xander when he came back and then she’d tell Spike. She still couldn’t believe it. She loved Spike. And all it took was someone who hated her to make her realize it.
She was so caught up in her thought; she barely dodged out of the way of a tackle from a female vampire. She threw a right, then a left, both ducked by the slayer.
Buffy kicked her in the gut and the face, followed by a punch in the nose. The she-vamp blocked the second punch and wasn’t slowed in the least by the bleeding.
She grabbed Buffy’s wrist and yanked her arm before kicking the slayer in the gut.
Buffy fell to her knees. She had a feeling that she’d fought someone with this style before. Actually two some ones. “Okay, not a regular vampire,” she muttered to herself, rolling out of the way of a sword.
“Wait-a sword? Where did you get a sword?!”
The vampire smiled a bit, leaping in the air and kicking Buffy in the chin. The blonde flew into a tree trunk and the vampire moved closer.
Buffy took this time to notice the vampire’s look and attire.
Long dark hair.
Bright blue eyes.
Voluptuous figure.
Black leather outfit.
Dark makeup.
Cold body language.
She held a hand out to Buffy, slipping the sword back into her jacket. “I didn’t come here to hurt you, even if it seems like that.”
Buffy gave her a look that said the opposite, but took the offered hand anyway. “Okay. So, what did you come here for?”
“You know Katherine. Well, tell her that there are hard decisions coming. She’ll know what I mean.”
“So, what, you’re a good vamp?” Buffy asked, eyebrows raised.
“My name’s Stacy Lynn. That’s all you really need to know. I’ll be back.” Without another word, Stacy Lynn ran and leapt onto the nearby crypt, disappearing into the night.
Faith hated this. That stupid thing she’d had to do. She pretended she was okay with it, but she knew she wasn’t. That guy she’d left behind was probably dead.
She pushed open the door to Lilah Morgan’s office. “Hey, Lilah. Your guy, Jack? Didn’t make it.”
Lilah looked up at her, just as Jack’s body appeared, dropping on the desk she sat at. She raised an eyebrow at his body, head at an unnatural angle and staring sightlessly at the ceiling.
“You don’t say…”
“Katherine!” Angel chased her out the room. “Katherine, listen to me! You can’t kill Faith!” He followed her down the stairs.
The others looked up; getting the general idea of what Katherine was planning to do. The demi-god tucked a dagger into the waistband of her skirt and moved on.
“She started this. She dies. I end it. Simple logic, really.” Katherine didn’t care. Not at this moment. She couldn’t afford to care. If she cared, she wouldn’t go. If she didn’t go, they’d wait for Buffy. And Spike might die. Which wasn’t an option.
Angel grabbed her arm and Katherine spun around, landing a hard punch to his jaw. He flew back as the front doors flew open.
“Take care of him for me.”
Katherine didn’t turn around, leaving the doors to slowly close behind her.