Dawn shuffled Joy into the kitchen as a breaking news story flashed across the television screen. The morning’s plan for watching “The Price is Right” while awaiting Spike’s call was dashed for Buffy when Bob Barker was interrupted by a violent image of Bill Gates being assassinated. Buffy stared at the screen, entranced by Gates’ sea blue eyes that she somehow recognized. As the loud shot rang out through the crowded Microsoft product unveiling ceremony, a spurt of blood came from his chest, and he fell to the floor with a thud. Buffy shook her head and turned the television off, and then joined Dawn and Joy in the kitchen. She smiled at Joy broadly, who was sitting at the table and kicking her feet back and forth while munching through a bowl of Captain Crunch doused in pig’s blood. Buffy cringed and made a silent mental note to never again consume the sugary cereal. Dawn was hardly as phased by Joy’s breakfast, and poured herself a bowl, topping it instead with skim milk. Crinkling her nose up, Buffy poured herself a safe glass of orange juice and sat down at the table.
“So, I guess someone S-H-O-T Bill Gates, Dawn.”
Dawn nodded as she shoveled the sickeningly sweet cereal into her mouth.
“Guess so.”
Joy smirked, a look Buffy instantly related to Spike.
“I can spell ya know! Not big words like…hippopotamus…but my Mommy taughted me how to spell little words!”
Buffy sighed and pet Joy’s hair.
“It sounds like she was a very good Mommy.”
“Mmhmm! I miss her, Buffy. ‘specially at night…Miss Dawn reads okay, but she doesn’t do the scary voices my Mommy did for my bedtime stories!”
Joy smiled broadly as she turned to Dawn.
“I liked when you tried though, Miss Dawn! You can read to me again tonight if you wanna!”
Nodding at the diminutive vampirette, Dawn smiled.
“Sure thing, sweetie!”
When Joy’s bright smile faded into a far-away look and a series of sniffles, Buffy smiled sadly.
“I know you miss your Mommy, Joy, our Mommy died a little while ago too, and I’ll bet that our Mommies are in heaven together.”
Joy’s face lit up, her tears forgotten.
“You really think so, Buffy?”
“I know so, sweetie. And in heaven, everything is wonderful, because when good Mommies and Daddies die, they can go there and they can just be happy.”
Joy nodded sagely as if Buffy had revealed some ancient secret to her, and then slurped up the remainder of the sugary blood from her cereal bowl.
“That’s good! But, Buffy, when is Spike gonna be home? Maybe he’ll want to read my bedtime story instead of Miss Dawn!”
Smiling again, Buffy wondered silently why Joy had taken to calling her younger sister “Miss Dawn” when she and Spike were called by their first names. She kissed Joy’s forehead with a chuckle.
“I’ll bet he’ll even do the scary voices for you, sweetie.”
Joy bit her lip, deep in thought.
“Do you think he’ll remember to bring PJ?”
“PJ?”
Joy stared at Buffy blankly.
“My pony!”
“Oh, right, right…let’s focus on the bedtime stories for now, alright honey?”
“Mkay Buffy.”
--
Spike stood smiling in the screaming crowd of people before the stage the now-“deceased” Bill Gates lay. Spike absentmindedly stroked the Gem of Amara necklace that Gates’ crack team of researchers had found in a discount herbal store in San Francisco. He had passed it off as a needed item for “one of Melinda’s collections.” Spike was proud of his ability to pass off not only a family, but also an assassination with only the aide of Warren’s robots. As the medics loaded Gates-bot onto the gurney, a tall, bald orderly sadly shook his head when he touched its wrist.
“There’s no pulse.”
Shouts rose from various people pointing officers in the direction of the killer; sometimes a burly biker, other times a short, curly-haired red head. Spike’s trademark smirk ghosted his features when he thought of the real “assailant,” a computer program hooked up to an IV bag full of blood. Well…half full. Any self-respecting vampire would have to take a swig to make sure the blood was believably warm. And ohhhh how warm it was! He was positive that the bot’s true “identity” would never be discovered as he had stipulated in his will that no autopsy or traditional burial was to be done, and his corpse was simply to be flung out into the ocean, with a cinderblock tied to its feet, from a helicopter. A memorial service would follow. Meandering his way out of the crowd, Spike climbed into his tired old black Desoto, cranked the Sex Pistols on the stereo, and drove off to join Buffy for the biggest shock of her life.
--
Before Spike could arrive, a long black limo pulled into Buffy’s driveway. A man in a dark black suit and even darker sunglasses rapped on her door. Still flustered from trying to calm down an incredibly hyper pair of sugar-crazed girls, Buffy emitted a small “Eep!” when she opened the door. The man cleared his throat.
“You Buffy Summers?”
“Yes…I mean, wait…who’s asking?”
“I’ll need to see some identification.”
Buffy handed her college ID over before she realized what she was doing.
“Hey! This is my house…buster! Shouldn’t I be asking for your ID?”
“No need, Ma’am. But I’m going to need you to come with us.”
Before she could protest, a group of seven identically dressed men shuffled her into the back of the limo and made the short trek over to Sunnydale’s only law office that hadn’t been put out of business by demon lawyers. Buffy sulked as she was led into the office and plopped down on a chair in front of Mr. Trey Birmingham, who looked almost as flustered as she felt.
“This is about my house being foreclosed on, isn’t it? Look, guys, I just need a bit of an extension…my mom recently passed away…I…I have to take care of my little sister and my…daughter alone…it’s a lot for me to handle, and I….”
The man who had knocked on her door began to tear up a bit and turned to his six identical counterparts.
“That Gates guy couldn’t have left his fortune to a more deserving dame!”
--
[Reviews - 56]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | 
Chapter or Story
Has been viewed 2083 times
- Text Size +
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Chapter or Story |
Chapter or Story | Chapter or Story - Text Size +
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sorry for the lack of updates lately! More to come and soon (hopefully)!