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CHAPTER 4: Red hot steel, and other gadgets, part 2



Spike was sitting on the gymnastic horse, Buffy standing between his legs, her hands on his thighs.


“So are you gonna tell me what the bloody Hell happened here?”

She leant forward, putting the top of her head against his chest and snaked her arms around his waist. “Nothing good Spike.” She sighed. “I don’t know where to start. Tara… The day after you left, I was in the backyard and Warren showed up. He had a gun. He shot me and one of the bullets got Tara. She died instantly. The only reason I’m still here is because Willow got the bullet out of my chest magically. But she couldn’t save Tara.”


He let out a small gasp, and tightened his hold on her. They stayed like that for a moment before he worked up the courage to speak again.


“The little witch… she’s dead?” It wasn’t really a question, just unreasonable hope that he had misunderstood.


Buffy couldn’t say a word, her own disbelief washing over her all over again while he tried to assimilate the concept of Tara being gone.


“I always fail, don’t I.”


“What?” Buffy looked up at him, not understanding why he would blame this on himself. “What does it have to do with you?”


“I promise myself I’d protect the ones I love, but when things get bad, I’m nowhere in sight.”


“Spike..”


“Tara was the most descent person I’ve ever met. The kindest. The little bird always treated me like I was part of the damn Scoobies. To her, I existed. I wasn’t just the bleached pain in the ass. And I genuinely loved her for that. But when she needed to be saved, where the bloody Hell was I? “


“Spike, you couldn’t know what was going to happen. And you had your own issues to deal with.”


He let out a short, humorless chuckle. “Yeah, my issues… Still. I should have been here. To protect you, to protect the witch…"


“There’s nothing you could have done.” Willow walked up to the blond couple. “Broad daylight. Human. Gun. The bullet went straight through her heart. You being in Sunnydale really wouldn’t have changed anything.”


“’S that what happened Red? The allusions about you having been evil and all?.. That’s what happen.” He asked quietly, Buffy and him both looking at the redheaded witch whose pain at the memories was evident.


Willow looked away, still ashamed of her actions. Ashamed of how easily the pain and the darkness had taken over her.


“Yes. But it’s no excuse for what I’ve done.”


“Red, I don’t know what you’ve done, but having the woman you love killed in front of you excuses pretty much everything.”


“I killed him Spike.” She said, staring deep into his eyes. “First, I tortured him a little. Then I skinned him and set him on fire.”


If the situation hadn’t been this serious, Spike’s expression would have been comical.


“Cor Red, that’s…” He shut his mouth, realizing that words would have been useless.


“I killed two humans that night Spike, and I could have killed my friends, just because they were in the way. I almost killed Giles. I was so drunk on dark magic’s, I wasn’t in control of my anger and my hatred anymore. Damn, I almost ended the world that night.”


He felt Buffy tensing slightly at Willow’s words, and took mental note to talk to her about that later. If her best friend had tried to end the world, chances were it just added one more issue to the long list of Buffy issues.


“Spike? You told me you know a chapter or two about evil… Am I? I’m not sure anymore. Maybe it’s in my nature and I’m just repressing it.”


“Pain brings the worst out of people. Makes them do things that are not in their nature. Doesn’t make you a bad person ducks… just someone who had her insides ripped apart, is all.”


The blond vampire tucked a loose strand of red hair behind Willow’s ear.


“I’m sorry Red.”


“For what?”


“I’m sorry I wasn’t here to kill him for you.”


Willow smiled sadly. “You couldn’t have anyway.”


“Doesn’t matter. I would have. Even if the chip had turned me into a soddin vegetable. I would have killed him so you wouldn’t have to.”


Willow gave her two friends a hug. After a few minutes, Buffy decided to interrupt the moment.


“Spike? Aren’t you supposed not to have murderous thoughts anymore? What with the new soul and all…”


“Bollocks. Some wanker walks around shooting my girls. Soul or no soul, there’s no way in hell he’s gonna keep going on his merry way, unscathed.” The Slayer reached up to kiss him.


Willow cleared her throat. “Sorry to interrupt guys, but if you don’t mind, I’ll go to your house to do the deinviting spell before sunset.”


“Thanks Will. Do you need me to come with you?”


Willow smiled at her friend. “Nah. I’ll be fine on my own. I’ll be back before sunset.”


And she walked out of the training room, just as Dawn walked in.


Buffy and Spike watched curiously as Dawn walked to the middle of the training room with her backpack, a serious expression on her pretty face. She put it down, and looked through it, then pulled out two bright orange pompoms. She stood, facing her sister and Spike, and cleared her throat officially.


“The cheerleaders try outs are next week and I need volunteers to tell me if I’m good enough… Oh yeah, that’d be you guys.”


Spike gave Dawny an amused look while playing with Buffy’s hair. “Sure thing Nibblet, cheer away, we’re watching.”


As the teenager cartwheeled and jumped around, Buffy snuggled up against Spike, a sudden feeling of dread washing over her.


“Will there even be a next week Spike? Will my little sister even have the chance to be a cheerleader, date boys, be happy?” she whispered against his ear.


“Don’t be silly luv. Of course she will. We’ll defeat the bad guys and stop the end of the world yet again, so little bit can have a world where she can cheer and date… Hey, isn’t she a little young to have dates?”


Buffy laughed into his chest. “She’s sixteen you over protective psycho vamp. In the 21st century, girls are dating at sixteen.”


“Sorry pet, I’m a little old fashioned.”


The started kissing playfully, but an outraged teenager soon put an end to their snuggling.


“I can’t believe you!? I just jumped around like an idiot for nothing, you guys didn’t even watch me! Couldn’t you spend like five minutes without sucking face?..”


They had the decency to at least try to look ashamed. “Sorry Nib… we got carried away…”


Dawn didn’t soften her glare. “A little self control maybe?”


“Do it again pigeon, we’ll watch this time. Sides, you know what they say Dawny, practice makes perfect. Look at me, 127 years of practice and I don’t think I could get anymore perfect.” He gave Buffy his patented cocky grin.


Buffy disentangled herself from her boyfriend and walked up to her sister.


“Lets see if I still have it.” She grabbed her little sis and said a few things in her ear, then she got Dawn’s extra pompom from her bag and the two girls started doing their little steps and jumps singing:


He’s sexy… He’s hot… He’s your super perfect vamp! He’s the Big Bad and is name is…
S-P-I-K-E! SPIKE!!!


They shrieked mockingly, shaking their pompoms frantically under Spike’s glare. Dawn stopped and pointed at him, her mouth gaping exaggeratedly. “Oh my god! It’s him! It’s… Spike!”


She dramatically put the back of her hand to her forehead, and pretended to faint, letting herself fall back on the gymnastic mat.


Buffy laughed hysterically at the vampire, wiping tears from her eyes.


“You Summers girls are a laugh a minute.” He said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, but smiling nonetheless at Dawns antics.


For a moment there, they felt like life goes on, and always will. But reality always comes crashing back. This time, it was Xander clearing his throat loudly.


“I am terribly sorry for interrupting this ‘make fun of Spike’ moment, but… someone wants to talk to you Buffy.” He pushed an obviously shaken Cordelia in front of him.


Buffy, Spike and Dawn stood next to each other and observed the new comer in silence, unsure of what to say. For some reason, ‘Hey Cordy, how’s it going’ didn’t sound appropriate.


Buffy instantly recognized the look on Cordelia’s face, for it was one she once had on her own face… What seemed like a lifetime ago. Pure pain. The kind you feel when the man you love loses his soul and tries to kill you. A sudden urge to reassure herself made her grasp Spike’s hand. A way to remind herself that she had found love again and the pain eventually had gone away.


There seemed to be nothing left of Queen C. Cordelia’s features were still gorgeous, but pale and tired. Her newly short hair was pulled back in a half ponytail, and she was wearing a gray sweatshirt too big for her, cargo pants and snickers. Her lack of style contributed to make her look even more miserable.


“Guys, could you leave us alone for a moment?” Buffy said, her eyes never leaving Cordelia. “I think we need to talk between girls.”


They all moved towards the door, but Buffy was reluctant to let go of Spike’s hand. They locked eyes for a second, and he gave her a reassuring smile.


“I’ll be there if you need me luv.” And he walked away, leaving the two women alone.


When Cordy didn’t move, Buffy took her hand and led her to the bench.


“I know why you’re here. Angelus.”


Cordelia’s eyes got teary and she looked down at her hands.


“Cordy? Are you gonna be all right?”


“Buffy, I’m so sorry. I know I shouldn’t be here… I have no right to come to you, of all people. You’re probably going to hate me, but no one else could understand.”


“Hate you? Cordelia, why would I hate you?”


She hesitated. “You and Angel… your background together… it’s complicated. And I…”


Buffy smiled. “You think I’m gonna hate you because you’re in love with Angel? Is that it?”


Cordelia’s head snapped up and she gave Buffy an almost fearful look. “How do you…”


“Come on, it’s pretty obvious. You look exactly like me when it happened a few years ago.” Her voice was full of compassion. “ Cordelia, I’m sorry.”


“You don’t hate me? Angel was the love of your life, and there I am, claiming to love him, and running to you.”


Buffy rolled her eyes. “Geez, what is it with you people? Does everybody think I’m lame enough to still be obsessing over my ex four years after we broke up? Hey, I moved on. And if he did, I’m glad it’s with you.”


“So, Spike huh?”


Buffy seemed taken aback. “How did you know?”


She gave the Slayer a good old-fashioned Cordelia look. “Buffy, come on, I’m not dumb. The look you gave each other?.. And the ‘I’ll be there if you need me’?” She smiled faintly at her friend. “Good for you. He’s a major hottie.”


Buffy grinned proudly. “Yep. That he is.”


“But we’ll have to have a girls talk someday and you’ll have to tell me everything. Cause to be honest, I feel like I’m watching a movie and I missed half of it while I was in the washroom. Last time I’ve seen Spike, he was torturing Angel to get a ring so he could kill you, and now he’s what? Smooching you to death?”


Buffy laughed at that. “I promise we’ll tell each other everything once we figure out what’s going on and we stop it. We’ll have dinner together and we’ll catch up.”


“Yeah, bad things are coming. I guess we’d better concentrate on that.”


After hesitating for a moment, not knowing how to bring it up, Buffy finally asked Cordelia “I need to know now Cordy. What do you want me to do? I don’t know what he’s done to you. I don’t know if you want him dead, or cursed again… I need to know so we can plan what we’re gonna do. We already have an apocalypse to stop, so we have to think of everything.”


“Do you think you could…”


“Get Willow to curse him?”


“Yes.”


She squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “Of course we will. I’ll talk to Willow. She went to my place to do a deinviting spell right now, but as soon as she’s back, I’ll tell her. She said she could maybe alter the spell to make it permanent.”


She stood up. “Ok. Now that it’s settled, is there any information you have that could be useful? We already thing Angelus is working with Faith. She’s out of prison and planing the apocalypse. You know, the usual.”


“Yes, they are working together. I had a vision, and there’s a few things Angelus told me himself.”


Spike cracked the door open and knocked lightly on the frame to get their attention.


“Sorry to interrupt, but I figured this could go on forever. For some reason, there’s always a lot to say about my poofter of a sire. Just want to know if you girls want something to eat. The whelp is going out for pizza.”


“Sure. Tell him to go, and bring Giles back here. Cordelia has information for us.”


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Faith watched, as yet another victim was taken to the opening in the Hellmouth, a cold expression on her face. This one was a young boy, around 17 years old, with red hair. He reminded her of Oz and she couldn’t help thinking about the first time she had met the Scooby gang at the Bronze, what seemed like a lifetime ago.


God she had impressed them so much with her bullshit. Half of the stories she had told them that night were coming straight from her imagination, but they were enjoying it. They were enjoying her. But it hadn’t been her. Just like it wasn’t her right now, watching a teenager get sacrificed, without any apparent emotion. They couldn’t know that she was scared. They couldn’t know that she was horrified. Because that would mean that she was weak and weak people didn’t survive. Weak people got dragged to a hole in the ground, and tumbled to their death. But not her. It would never happen to her. She would not die like her mother did, begging for her life as her father had crushed her skull with a frying pan. She would not die crying like her watcher did, as a vampire had ripped her insides out. No, not her. She was a survivor.


“Are you ok Faith?” Angelus asked, the lack of concern in his voice contradicting his words.


“Five by five big guy. Why do you care?”


“I really don’t. Just curious. I was wondering what could be going on in your head while you’re watching the show. I know you’ve killed people, but this one is a young one. His whole life in front of him and all that shit. Thought some part of you should care.” He said with a mocked scold.


“Not the tiniest little bit. The boy would have ended up in a trailer park anyway. We’re doing him a favor.” She answered, shrugging.


Angelus laughed. “ Just what I was thinking. Our mind thinks the same way honey. Maybe I should turn you…”


“Hey! Back off if you don’t want to accidentally trip in that hole over there.”


Angelus put his hands up in surrender. “No need to get cranky, I was just saying.”


Faith looked around at the people working on what used to be a high school, and now looked more like a makeshift arena. No one was even paying attention to the sacrifices, thanks to the mind control spell they were all under. At least twenty people or so had been killed in silence so far, and nobody had shown any kind of emotion, or attempted to stop the murders.


The girl shook the disturbing thoughts away. “In two days, this place is gonna be ready for the ritual.”


“You ready?”


“You bet. Can’t wait to get this over with actually. It’s gonna be a blast.”


“Yeah, this is all gonna be a lot of fun, but I have plans for us tonight babe.”


“About Buffy?”


He smirked. “How did you guess?”


“I don’t know. Maybe because you’re even more obsessed with her than I am.”


“Nothing wrong with obsessing over killing the Slayer, that I can assure you.” He put his arm around her. “But enough talking. We have a couple of things to plan if we want to make the most of our night of fun. It’s not everyday that you get to play with the Slayer. Better make sure everything is perfect. Let’s go.”


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Giles stood with his arms crossed on his chest, looking down at the two girls sitting crossed leg on the training mat.


Spike was back on his spot on the gymnastic horse.


“So you think this law firm is responsible for Angel losing his soul?”


“They had been trying for a long time now, but I don’t think so, I know so. I was there.”


Cordelia took a deep breath. “Wesley had come to the Hyperion to warn us that Wolfman & Hart had hired a soul stealer. His sources are fairly sure since he sleeps with one of Wolfman & Hart’s lawyer.”


Buffy couldn’t repress her laugh. “Wesley has a girlfriend?!.. An evil girlfriend? That is too funny.” When she noticed everyone looking at her, she added, “Ok, I’ll shut up now. Go on Cordy.”


“So this guy in black robe walked in. Angel and I were alone together. The guy stopped at the door, chanted a few words, then walked out like nothing happened. When I turned around, Angel was unconscious on the ground. I dragged him to the couch and tried to make him wake up. When he did, he assured me he was fine. But as soon as I turned around, something hit me over the head and I passed out. Only to wake up in one of the rooms on the floor we don’t use, tied up to the bed.”


Cordelia closed her eyes for a moment. Nobody dared interrupting her. “Angel… was acting strange. I knew right away that the guy who had walked in earlier had been the soul stealer Wesley was warning us about. It wasn’t Angel standing next to the bed, it was Angelus.”


She took a deep breath, obviously reliving the horror in her head. “I won’t get into the details of what he did to me, it’s too painful, and pointless to the story. But before leaving me there, Angelus rambled for a little while and in his cockiness, he let a few details slip out. He said that Wolfman & Hart got Faith out of jail and they were planning a trip to Sunnydale for a little apocalyptic fun. Something about using people to feed the Hellmouth, then opening it for good and ruling the demons of the world, have them under their control. Anyway, that’s pretty much all he said before leaving me there to die. Fortunately enough for me, Fred… that’s the girl we rescued from another dimension while you guys were fighting that Hell God. Fred got into a fight with her boyfriend and decided to wander through the hotel to cool off. That’s how she found me three days later.”


Nobody dared speaking for a little while, but Giles finally found the courage to break the heavy silence. “This is truly horrible Cordelia. I am terribly sorry this happened to you. I am also sorry to say that with a demon like Angelus, it will be either way the stake, or finding a way to make the curse permanent. There can’t be any in between solutions. He is too dangerous.”


They all nodded, agreeing with the Watcher. “Is there anything else you can tell us? Dates? Time? Name of the ritual?…”


“Unfortunately, that’s all he said. But I did have a vision.” At the hopeful expression on her friend’s faces, she added quickly “Nothing positive though. Lots of fire, bodies being thrown into the opening of the Hellmouth, Faith chanting… and Buffy…” Spike tensed at her hesitation. “You couldn’t fight your fight.”


Buffy raised her eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean ‘I couldn’t fight my fight’? I’m not…” She gave Spike a quick look before asking. “… gonna die, am I.”


“No. I don’t think so. I didn’t actually see you in the vision, but I knew. See, my visions are a mix of images and feelings. I was seeing Faith doing the ritual, but I could feel that you were gonna lose that battle. Now, that doesn’t mean the battle is lost. It just means that you won’t be winning it. And even that is not set in concrete. Now that I had the vision, we can always change it. The future is never decided until it happens.”


“Well it won’t.” Buffy stood up, aggravated by Cordelia’s words. “The day I lose a battle, it will be because I die, not because I forfeit. And I’m not gonna lose, especially not to Angelus and Faith.” She could feel Spike’s piercing gaze on her, and she shuddered. He didn’t need to say a word. She knew what was on his mind, and what he was feeling.


“Buffy,” Giles tried, unsure what to tell his Slayer. “I know it is not in your nature to give up, or let other people fight for you, but sometimes it’s the best thing to do. We don’t know what Cordelia’s vision means, but…”


“I know Giles. Slayer’s rule number one: Don’t die. And I have no intention to. Not now. You know, when I jumped off that tower before, I thought I had nothing to live for, except my sister. And she was going to die if I didn’t. I was glad to go, knowing that you would all live, and I had done my job. ” She admitted softly. “But things are different now. Life is finally getting to be good again after a long period in the dark, and I’m not gonna give that up. So I’m gonna fight. And I’m gonna win. End of the story.”


She glared at her watcher, daring him to contradict her. “Now, Spike and I will patrol tonight, and try to find Angelus and Faith. Or at least find where they hide. I mean… if we kill them now, no chance for them to start their little chanting, right?”


The blond vampire finally found the strength to smile at her, trying desperately to push away the image of her dead body lying on a pile of concrete. He couldn’t go back there. Couldn’t think of her end or he’d lose his mind.


“Sure thing luv. Kill before you get killed. That’s my motto. Well at least, it is now. We’ll try to find them tonight so we can attack when they don’t expect it. That should increase our chances.”


“Ok, let’s go home and change, grab a bite, then we’ll leave for patrol.” Buffy took her sport bag off the floor and started for the door. But she stopped and looked at Cordelia. “Where are you staying Cord?”


“That cheap motel just outside of town. I think it’s actually the same motel where Faith used to live when she first got to Sunnydale. How creepy is that.”


Buffy looked at Spike, and he nodded. “Too creepy. Why don’t you stay with us until we fix that mess? We have an extra room since Willow moved out.”


“I don’t know Buff… I feel kind of bad invading your house like that.”


“Nah, no problem, the house is big enough for the four of us. Lets go.”

They were almost out of the magic shop when Xander walked in carrying three boxes of pizza. “Hey! Where are you guys going?..”


“Going home to see how Willow’s doing with the deinviting spell. Then it’s patrol time for us.”


They didn’t stop, and when passing next to Xander, Spike grabbed the first pizza box on top of the pile.


“Hey!!!”


“Thanks Whelp.”


And before Xander could protest any further, they were all gone.


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