“…Xander left Anya at the altar, and Anya's a vengeance demon again, Dawn's a total klepto, money's been so tight that I've been slinging burgers at the Doublemeat, and I've been sleeping with Spike.”
Giles burst out into hysterically laughter, and Buffy looked shocked, and then allowed a small amused smile to grace her face.
“Is that all?” He was still sputtering, but trying to keep a straight face.
“Yeah, well things are never dull in Sunnydale.”
“So this thing, between you and Spike…?” he let the question hang; he was sagged against the wall trying to regain his composure.
“It’s complicated. I mean, I ended it, for obvious reasons, but things are different now, he’s different.”
Giles shook his head, all the laughter gone. “He’s a vampire Buffy, a soulless vampire, what more do you need to know?”
Buffy sighed; turning away from Giles she began to fiddle with her hair. “Honestly? At this point I’m not prepared to take judgment from you, or anyone else. I’ve spent my life here is Sunnydale doing what is right, protecting the innocent, saving the world, blah blah. I know he’s changed, and everyone else sees it to, but they aren’t going to admit it. So if we make it through this, everyone is going to have to accept the fact that he is one of us now.”
Giles was stunned into silence. Her adamancy about the Spike issue was appalling and at the same time filled him with pride. During the months he had been away she’d grown up, taken responsibility, and obviously gotten more stubborn. He was proud of her, although, he’d deal with the Spike issue later.
He coughed. “So…where is he?”
Buffy made a face. “He was keeping tabs on Jonathan and Tucker’s brother at the police station.” She swore. “Damn him, where the hell was he? I didn’t even notice he wasn’t there.”
Giles raised his eyebrows at her. “I guess things haven’t changed all that much.”
Buffy sighed. “Anyway, What's gonna happen to Willow?”
“Well, the coven is working on a ... way to extract her powers without ... killing her. And, uh, should she survive, you ought to know, Buffy, that there's no guarantee she'll ... be as she was. Willow has killed a human being. How will she be able to live with herself?”
“I wouldn't worry about that.”
They turned sharply, as Willow let an unconscious Anya drop to the floor.
“Willow doesn’t live here anymore.”
***
“Can’t…no…isn’t right. No, isn’t right.” He shook his head vehemently. The darkness mocked him, spoke in circles, and screamed. All he could do was close his eyes, and try to talk loud enough to drown out the voices.
“YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” he screamed at the shadows. They pointed at him; blame was everywhere. It was strangling him, gnawing at him from the inside. Curling into a ball he hid his face under his arms.
“Don’t want to know…NOOOOO! Tell them I’m sorry,” he was crying now. Their clammy fingers pawed at him, and he began to scream, swiping at his head and chest. “Need it out…don’t want it, don’t want it…”
“Look at you; why would I ever want to be with something as pathetic as you?” Her green eyes shown with amusement, and she squatted down to look him in the eyes. “Give up Spike, no one wants you anymore. After everything you’ve done. You’re a monster.”
***
“GET OUT OF HERE!” Buffy’s scream pierced the silence of the cemetery.
The group looked up sharply as Buffy came barreling towards them.
“MOVE!” With a leap, Buffy tackled Jonathan and Andrew, and the fireball exploded on the ground near them. Dawn and Xander were thrown to the ground, and Xander knocked unconscious as he slammed into a tombstone.
“Dawn hold on!!” Grabbing Dawn’s arm steadied the pair momentarily, under the earth began to shake. The ground beneath them opened up, and the sisters plummeted down into the darkness.
Jonathan turned to look at Andrew. “Mexico huh?”
Buffy struggled shakily to her feet. “Dawn, are you alright?”
Making a face, Dawn brushed the dirt off her clothes. “Just peachy.” She stared up at the hole a good 15-20 feet above them. “How are we going to get out of here?”
“We’ll have to climb, Xander got knocked pretty good on the head, I don’t think he’ll be any help. Damnit, where is Spike?”
***
The dust had settled, and everything was calm once again at least for now. Xander, Dawn, Anya and Buffy were huddled in the living room, none of them speaking. After Xander had taken down Willow, they hadn’t even said goodbye before Giles had whisked her away to the airport, to England.
They were in shock, and more than a little tired. Willow had tried to destroy the world, Xander had stopped her; what were they supposed to do now?
Just being in the house made Buffy uncomfortable; it was awkward without Willow, and just every time she thought about Tara, she wanted to cry. They really hadn’t given themselves time to grieve, Willow included.
She was starting to consider the house on Revello drive, ‘The House of Death’. She couldn’t remember the last time something happy, or positive had happened.
Then there was Spike, who had mysteriously disappeared. She wanted to be angry at him, but instead she was worried. It would be easier if she could think that he’d just skipped out, decided he didn’t want to help, and that he was back to his old ways. After what had happened between them in the last few days, she knew that wasn’t possible. Which only left one solution, something had happened to him.
She hadn’t settled on either possibility conclusively. She just didn’t have the brain power. She was back to her, ‘fire bad, tree pretty’ state of mind.
“Now what do we do?” Dawn’s voice shattered the silence, and no one responded. They were all thinking the same thing.
Xander shifted on the couch. “Pizza?”
***
“I won’t go back, no can’t go back, won’t understand…” he was still mumbling in the darkness.
“You’re worthless Spike, always have been. Do you think a soul makes everything ok? You’ll never be like me, and she’ll never love you the way she loves me.” Angel grinned down at Spike’s quivering form.
“Trusts me…need to protect...promised, never leave.”
“My pretty Spike; she’ll cover you in dust.” Drusilla’s eye’s glimmered playfully. “The glowing turns you weak, oh, let’s go play with her, make you strong again.”
“NO…can’t hurt…the girl.”
“She thinks you betrayed her.” Drusilla giggled. “Oh my William what fun we’ll have.”
Spike lifted his head, tears running down his face.
“I don’t want to be here Spike, I’ve told you before. I can’t live in this world.” Buffy’s shining face smiled at him. “Make it end Spike, make the suffering stop. Kill me.”
She disappeared into the darkness, and once again, Spike was alone. Her words echoed in his mind, drowning out the shame and guilt. “Kill me, make it end….”
A/N:Dialogue taken from S6 "Grave". (And yes, The First has made an early appearance.)
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Author's Chapter Notes:
i know I'm going to lose some of you on this chapter. Basically, I didn't want to rewrite the entire episode of 'Grave' so I do a lot of jumping forward from one scene to another. :D I hope you'll stick with this, things are def. going to get interesting in the upcoming chapters. :D
Special thanks to Brat for helping me through this chapter. I'd still be stuck in a rut if it wasn't for her.
If you are looking for holiday spuffy, go check out the new community I created at LJ BtvS Holiday Fics YOu don't have to have an LJ account to read the stories :D
Special thanks to Brat for helping me through this chapter. I'd still be stuck in a rut if it wasn't for her.
If you are looking for holiday spuffy, go check out the new community I created at LJ BtvS Holiday Fics YOu don't have to have an LJ account to read the stories :D