[Reviews - 11]
-
Table of Contents [Report This]
Microsoft Word Chapter or Story | ePub eBook Chapter or Story | Printer Chapter or Story

Has been viewed 1330 times

- Text Size +




Author's Chapter Notes:
Last pre-written chapter I have.
Chapter 3

Buffy felt in her gut that this had something to do with the case she’d been on before she woke up this morning with multiple Spikes. It was the only thing that made sense, since she didn’t have a clue how she’d gotten from that back alley fight with the demon, to her own bed.

“I concur,” Giles replied. “We need to find out exactly what your foe is so we know how to send those back.” He said “those” like they were some distasteful object one found in the yard that needed to be tossed back over the fence.

“I drove by the address you gave Giles, and the shop isn’t there anymore,” Xander added.

“What do you mean, it isn’t there?!” Buffy outburst. If they couldn’t find that little creep…

“I mean that the building was empty. No candy shop. It must have been an illusion or something.”

“ I need to get back to Dru, Slayer. Whatever nasty you pissed off, you’re just going to have to fix it, pronto,” ’97 Spike growled. The tape was off his mouth so he could have a mug of blood, held by 2001 Spike. No one trusted him enough to let him have the use of his hands.

“Well, you’re just going to have to be patient!” she snapped back. “How would you like to be sent to the land of nothing but shrimp?!” Okay, so that was lame, but she had too much of a headache to come up with a good threat. At least that one still thought she might stake him. “What are you grinning about?!” she directed at 2010 Spike.

He grinned back. “Just brings back memories, you makin’ empty threats an’ all. Haven’t seen ya in nine years, Slayer.” He wasn’t too worried. His sexy little Key would find him eventually, if these humans didn’t figure out how to send him back first. She was world class at harnessing her inner power, but he wasn’t going to share that with the class.

“Just stop looking at my sister like you’ve seen her naked!” Buffy snarked back.

He tucked his hands behind his head and looked smug. “But I have. Sooo many times…”

2005 Spike smacked his counterpart upside the head. “Mind your manners in the lady’s house.”

Pinned with multiple glares, 2010 Spike held his hands up in surrender and left the table to sit in front of the television.

“Somebody turn me so I can see,” ’97 Spike demanded. Willow waved a hand and moved him without looking up from the text she was reading.

No one noticed Ghost Spike pass through the wall to escape the bickering. At least in this state, he could watch the sun set.

Bored, 2001 joined 2010 on the sofa to watch TV. 2005 was still at the table, trying to help. Buffy felt that comfortable vibe with him that she’d felt in the weeks leading up to the FE’s defeat. She envied his Buffy, as it was clear that he felt loved and loved openly in return. They shared a smile. Giles frowned.

“Ooo! This may be it!” Willow said excitedly. “Kara, the woman that was here with the other Spike, suggested looking up demigods, since this would take a lot of power…and I think this one might fit the bill.” She rotated the book so Buffy could see. “’The Trickster’. He goes by several names, but his MO is always making a mockery out of those he thinks should be punished…has a thing for sweets, likes central locations…”

“Good job, Will. How do I kill it?”

Willow’s smile dimmed. “Well, you can’t, really, but you can send him back to the spiritual plane for a while…by piercing his heart with a blessed stake of spruce wood. Ooo, that might be tough to find here. But basically, you toast his physical body, and then he has to gather energy to walk on the physical plane again. Gets him out of Cleveland, at least?”

“I’ll take it. Will that automatically send the Spikes home?” Buffy asked.

“I don’t know. He might reverse it if you threaten him? There’s not a lot here, since people usually don’t try to take on a deity…”

“Setting a trap would probably be the best course of action, since finding this Trickster could take years, otherwise,” Giles stated. “Who knows what kind of long-term unbalance could exist from removing these…Spikes from their dimensions.”

“And William,” Dawn added.

“There’s a William?” the Watcher asked.

“He’s asleep on Dawn’s bed,” Buffy replied. “Willow put him under as soon as he arrived so we wouldn’t risk revealing something to him he shouldn’t know.”

“The human version, as well? Extraordinary…”

Spike recognized that look. “Don’t even think it, Watcher. You’re not getting near him, not just so you can fill some diary. Messing with timelines has serious consequences.”

Giles looked affronted. “I wasn’t about to wake the poor man, just have a look.”

Better keep an eye on the old man, just the same, the vampire thought. The man looked too curious, and with the Council in ruins, it’d be a coup to get a first-hand account from William the Bloody. Not. Happening.

“Can we focus, please?” Buffy pleaded. There was way too much testosterone in this apartment.

The tension was getting thick in here. “Maybe we should break for dinner,” Dawn suggested. She nudged Xander with her foot and looked at him meaningfully.

“Oh, yeah, that’d be a good idea. I came straight from the job site, myself.”

Willow caught on. “Buffy and I will go.” She put her hand on Buffy’s shoulder to get her attention.

“Huh?” the Slayer said. “Okay…”

2001 raced for the door like an eager puppy. “You’ll need an extra hand if you’re getting enough for everyone.”

Willow rolled her eyes, Buffy shrugged. 2005 folded his arms across his chest and frowned. He didn’t consider his soulless self good enough for Buffy, in retrospect.

~+~

Ghost Spike stood in the tiny backyard facing the street, though his eyes weren’t taking in any of the scenery. He wished like mad he could lean against the wall or smoke a cigarette…have a beer. Anything that proved he wasn’t a figment of someone’s imagination. Might as well be invisible, for all he was welcome here.

The glass door slid open and closed. The ghost knew it was one of the Spikes, though he hadn’t turned around to see. The sun had dipped below the horizon, leaving the sky a darkening medium blue.

“How are you holding up?” 2005 asked quietly.

“Why do you care?”

“Because we’re the same. Because she would.”

Ghost Spike snorted in disbelief. “You don’t know this Slayer.” He turned to his double. “If you’d been through-“

“What? Her kissing Angel? Not telling you those words you longed to hear until you were burning up? Taking your strength those last few days and giving nothing back? Been there, done that, mate, but I’m tellin’ you, it can get better. We spent a lot of time apart, and it took me a while to trust her, like that, but things are good now. We have hope…if you could live a day in my shoes, there’s no way you wouldn’t be talking to her right now.”

“Yeah? Livin’ the dream, are you?”

“It’s no bloody fairytale, but yeah…it’s a hell of a lot more than a crumb.”

“Even if I was destined to be on your path, that’s changed now, right? You didn’t appear to Buffy as a soddin’ ghost?!”

“I didn’t…look, just talk to the woman.”

~+~

“Was he always this hyper?” Willow murmured to Buffy, casting a sideways glance at their undead companion. He was whistling a happy tune, a cigarette perched between his lips.

Buffy smiled, feeling nostalgic. “Pretty much, before the soul. Annoyed the hell out of me that he was never as tired as I was.”

“Can hear you gossiping, you know,” 2001 interjected. “So, what’s the world like, two years later?”

Willow wagged her finger while shaking her head. “Oh, no…we’re not telling you any details. It’s bad enough you Spikes can talk to each other right now.”

“How did you win?” Buffy asked him.

His head did that curious tilt thing as he considered why she looked so serious when asking. “The Slayer beat down Glory while I cut Dawn loose and got her down off that tower. Bit of a team effort, really.”

She nodded. “So, Doc didn’t show up?”

He dismissed that with a wave of his hand. “Nah, beheaded the bugger when I realized what he was. Owed it to Dawn.”

Buffy nodded and smiled. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” he replied. That soft look she remembered so well was in his eyes.

Willow cleared her throat. “Pizza place is just around the corner.”

2001 was feeling all too pleased with himself that he’d earned the gratitude of two different Buffys.

~+~

With everyone engrossed in research or the television, Dawn was able to slip into her room without being noticed. This version of Spike intrigued her most of all. She would have bet anything after that summer that Spike wasn’t the “always been bad” guy he’d made her sister believe with that story of his Slayer kills. The Council books said he was a bad human as well as an evil vampire, but she knew better. The proof was laying right here on her bed, with his gentleman’s suit and silly hair and glasses.

His hands had yet to bear the scars and calluses of his later self, and his face was softer, his cheekbones less pronounced. He was definitely fair skinned, but not like his pale counterparts. Dawn wondered how long he had before he would be turned.

She gasped when his eyelids fluttered open and quickly put her finger to her lips, indicating he should be quiet. “Shhh, it’s alright, you’re safe. My name is Dawn Summers.”

He pushed his glasses further up on his nose and stiffly extended a hand. “William Albright. What is this place? It is obvious I am not at home.”

“Um, no. It seems you were kidnapped, but my sister and I are going to get you home soon. Can you be patient, William, and stay in here?” He swallowed nervously and nodded. “Great. Um, I can get you a book, or a pen and paper to pass the time?” Dawn turned on her desk lamp and pulled out some supplies. “You can use my desk.” She smiled reassuringly. “Food should be here soon, so I’ll bring you a plate. Just…stay in here.”

Strange girl…though nice, at least. William watched her slip out of the room, the open door bringing in considerable noise from outside, before shutting him off from it again. Feeling perhaps that he must be dreaming, he rolled over on the bed and tried to go back to sleep.





You must login (register) to review.