Chapter Thirteen
Instead of walking back to the Magic Box that evening for the Scoobie meeting to discuss how to find Riley and his minions, Spike told Buffy he wanted to swing by his crypt and pick up a few more weapons. With a quick kiss, she went off toward town and he walked to his cemetery.
Before entering his crypt, he sniffed and listened carefully, not wanting to find out the hard way that Riley had rigged another trap for him. When he didn’t sense anything, he walked in his door and headed for the weapon’s chest. Too late, he sensed movement above him and spun around only to find himself entangled in a net that had dropped from the ceiling.
He immediately attacked the steel cables hindering his movements, but they were designed to hold the most dangerous of demons and his teeth and claws were not up to the task of shredding the net. The last thing he saw before the tazer knocked him unconscious was Riley’s grinning face instructing his minions to bring the vampire with them.
When Spike didn’t show up at the Magic Box after an hour, Buffy began to pace the floor alternately worrying and fuming.
“Where is that bleached pest? He knows we need to move tonight before Riley has a chance to turn any more of his buddies. I’ll kill him when I get my hands on him.
“Something must have happened. Spike wouldn’t worry me like this. He’d be here if he could...”
“Relax, Buffy,” Xander interrupted her verbal tantrum, “It’s Spike. He probably stopped for a drink at Willies’s or got into a card game or something. It’s not like you can actually rely on—“
A fierce glare from Buffy stopped the young brunette in mid-Spike bash and he subsided as he realized how worried she really was.
“Uh, Buffy? Is there something you want to tell us? Something I’m pretty sure I really, really don’t want to know?”
When her only response was to look up anxiously, an expression of hope on her face at the opening of the door, he sighed and muttered to himself, “Here we go again. Another damn vampire.”
Buffy’s hope was short lived, as the sharp-featured, dark woman who came in looked around nervously before speaking.
“Are...are you the Slayer?”
The gang exchanged looks as Buffy approached the trembling woman. “I am. Why do you want to know?”
The thin brunette retreated toward the door as Buffy stalked toward her. “I...I’m...supposed to give you a message.” She eyed the door as she continued to retreat from the small blond now almost on top of her.
“From?”
“He said you would know who it’s from. He said to tell you if you want your pet vampire, you have to come and get him.”
She visibly trembled as Buffy’s eyes narrowed and she practically snarled, “Come and get him where? Where is he?”
“A...a...at the Initiative’s house on campus. In the game room,” she said.
“The game room?”
“Yes, he said...,” she visibly gulped, “he said he wanted to...to play.”
Gasps from the Scoobies in the room took Buffy’s attention off the other woman for a second, and she took that opportunity to bolt for the door. She was almost out when a supernaturally strong hand grabbed her arm and yanked her back into the room.
“Where do you think you’re going? And how did it happen that Riley choose you to deliver his message?”
The woman was shaking and trembling in front of her, and tears were beginning to fall from her eyes. Buffy’s was about to reassure her that she would never harm another human when she realized that the arm she had grabbed was not warm. She allowed her Slayer senses full rein and focused her full wrath on the frightened vampire in front of her.
“How did he happen to choose you?” she asked in a soft, but deadly cold voice.
“I...he...we...I...” the now game-faced vampire could only stutter in fear.
“You’re the one who turned him.” Buffy stated flatly.
The trembling demon in front of her nodded dumbly.
“I didn’t mean to!” she finally found her voice again as she begged for her life. “I didn’t know he was yours. He made me do it. Said he’d kill me if I didn’t do it.”
Buffy’s face crumpled in horror as she realized exactly how twisted Riley had become when he lost his enhancements. She recognized with a sense of shame how much her friendship with Spike and the jealousy that it inspired had fueled Riley’s dementia.
(This really is my fault. It’s my fault Riley is what he is, and it’s my fault he’s taking it out on Spike. I guess this is why Slayers never marry. We’re fatal to the men who love us.)
A shaking on her arm brought Buffy out of her self-flagellating trance and she realized she was still holding the terrified vampire who had turned her ex boyfriend into a soulless fiend. Without changing her expression, she pulled a stake from her waistband and plunged in into the other woman’s chest. As the dust floated through the shop, she muttered, “I’m sorry,” and turned back to her dumbfounded friends.
“What?” she demanded of their shocked faces. “She was a vampire. I’m a Slayer. It’s what I do.”
Without speaking to anyone again, she marched into the training room and began filling a bag with weapons. Giles watched in concern as she shouldered the bag and headed for the door.
“Buffy? Is this wise? It is obviously a trap. Perhaps it would be better to wait until daylight when we can use the sun to our advantage.”
“WE aren’t going, Giles. This is my mess and I’m going to clean it up. Now. Before anyone else gets hurt.”
“Buff, it’s just Spike. He can take care of himself.” Xander tried to add his support to her watcher’s suggestion, but a glare from his girl friend shut him up.
Willow spoke up next, “Buffy, you know Spike wouldn’t want you to risk...”
The Slayer’s face was expressionless as she looked around at her friends.
“Spike can’t always have what he wants,” she said firmly. “I’ll be back.”
There was silence in the room after the Slayer left the shop. All eyes swiveled to Giles as they waited for him to tell them what to do. The older man sighed. He sighed for his Slayer who was once again going to be asked to do things no nineteen year old girl should, and for the otherwise normal young people sitting in front him waiting to be told when and how to put their lives on the line.
“We’ll give her a good head start, then we’ll bring the back-up. Just in case.”
While her friends nodded their heads, relieved to have a plan of some sort, he kept to himself the thought that he doubted she would need them. Something about the look on her face when she left told him the Slayer was in full control of this mission.
Chapter Fourteen
Inside the large room designated for innocent pastimes like table hockey, foosball, and pool, the area had been cleared and only one pool table remained in the middle of the floor. Suspended from the overhead chandelier, was a bloody blond vampire. Riley’s minions had hung the chains over the fixture at their boss’s orders and then had taken turns flinging pieces of wood at the unconscious vampire’s body.
He woke up from the tazer blast to find that he was riddled with gouges and cuts wherever the wooden missiles had found their marks. Conspicuously untouched, was the area over his heart. They were instructed, on pain of instant painful retaliation, to leave the vampire undusted until Riley gave the word.
To amuse himself while his minions flung bits of sharp wood at the now-conscious vampire, Riley proceeded to tell Spike in great detail what he was planning for Buffy when she got there.
“Now that I’m a vampire, she should be a lot happier to see me, don’t you think?” he jeered. “Doesn’t really matter if she is or isn’t though, I’m going to fuck her brains out before I drain her. “
He gestured to the lone pool table left in the center of the room, right under Spike’s dangling body.
“Right here. So you can get a good look at her face when I’m pounding in to her. I want you to watch. I want you to see every flinch, hear every scream. Then you can watch me rip her throat out and swallow every drop of that bitch’s blood.”
Fear briefly gripped Spike’s entrails, but he tried to keep his voice cocky and smooth as he smirked at the larger vampire preening below him.
“This is the Slayer, you stupid git. You really think she’s gonna be stupid enough to just waltz in here and let you have your way with her?”
(Please God, don’t let her be that stupid. Stay away Buffy)
“Oh, I think she’ll come, Spike.” He spit the vampire’s name out like it was dirty word.
“She won’t leave you here at my mercy. You know Buffy, always off to save her little friends.”
“Not one of her friends.” He replied shortly. “Vampire, here, or have you forgotten?”
The other vampire snarled at him, “No, I haven’t forgotten. I know just what you are. It’s what she wants. Vampires. Angel, you. Now she’s going to get all the vampire she can handle. I’ll teach her what a real vampire is.”
His snarling speech was spoiled somewhat by the sounds of choking laughter coming from the chained vampire above him. Spike couldn’t even speak, he was so thunderstruck at the idea of this fledgling vamp thinking he was going to take the Slayer that had defeated both Angelus and William the Bloody.
Riley’s face darkened and he gestured to his minions to resume their game of making Spike bleed.
“Just don’t dust him yet. I want her to see him hanging there and I want him to watch when I fuck her in that pool of blood on the table.” He gestured to the sticky red puddle forming underneath the chained vamp.
“You want him to watch you what me where?”
Buffy’s incredulous voice carried from the entrance to the room, causing all heads to swivel toward her.
Spike took advantage of the distraction to shift his chains so that he was basically holding himself up rather than hanging from them. One quick flip over the arm of the chandelier and he would be free to drop onto the table below.
“Get her,” Riley ordered. “First one to bring her down gets seconds.”
Spike watched in admiration as Buffy took on four commando-trained vamps at the same time and dusted or incapacitated all of them. As always, the sight of her in motion made his pants tight.
(That’s the woman GI Joe thinks he’s going to get the best of? That beautiful piece of human weaponry?))
The sight of their comrades’ dust floating above the floor, as well as the look of sheer glee on the Slayer’s face made the other minions hesitate. While they reviewed their options, Buffy attacked, taking out three more and sending the others back behind Riley.
Growling in frustration, he stepped forward, holding a tazer in the hand down at his side.
“Hello, sweetheart. Glad to see you could make it. I told your pet here that you would come to get him.”
“Came to clean out the vermin, Riley. Or have you forgotten what I do?”
“I haven’t forgotten what you do. When you’re not slaying vampires, you’re fucking them. Just thought I’d get in on the action.”
“The only action you’re going to get is the business end of a stake, Riley.” She stared at him coldly as he advanced on her.
“Now, Buffy, that’s no way to talk to your boyfriend.” As he spoke, he suddenly reached toward her shoulder with the tazer. To his surprise, with a flick of her wrist she both blocked his attack and knocked the device out of his hand. They both watched it skitter across the floor to come to rest against the wall.
The Slayer raised her eyebrows at the surprised ex-commando and asked him sweetly, “What’s the matter, Riley? Lose your equalizer?”
The enraged vampire threw himself at her, screaming over his shoulder to what men he had left, “Get that tazer and hit her, now!”
Although Riley’s size and weight carried both him and the Slayer to the floor, she had already brought her knees up and used her coiled legs to shove him off before he could reach her with his teeth. Behind him his minions looked back and forth between the large angry vampire and the deadly little blond girl and turned their backs, running for the door.
Only Graham retained enough loyalty to stay. He crept toward the tazer, picking it up and slinking toward the preoccupied slayer as she faced off against her former lover.
Before he could reach her, Spike slipped his chains off the hanging lamp and dropped gracefully to the table. He tossed one of the chains around the neck of the attacking minion and yanked on it hard. He smiled in satisfaction as the other vampire’s neck snapped and his head popped off leaving a small pile of dust on the floor.
He turned to watch Buffy as she swept Riley’s feet out from under him and jumped on him, stake out, as he fell. Suddenly the vampire’s ridged face was gone and Buffy was looking down on the soft, open countenance of her former boyfriend.
“You can’t kill me, Buffy. You care too much about me. You may not love me, but I don’t think you can kill me.”
He smiled at her and reached a tentative hand toward her face.
“You’re just not that kind of girl,” he said softly. “You couldn’t kill someone you cared about.”
Buffy shook her head at him sadly.
“Oh, Riley. I’ve had that tee shirt since I was seventeen.” With a shrug, she drove the point of the stake into his chest and watched dispassionately as his surprised face exploded into dust.
She stayed where she was for a minute, kneeling in the dust that was all that was left of her second serious boyfriend. A soft sound behind her made her turn around and she saw Spike looking at her sympathetically.
“Are you all right, pet?” he asked gently. He didn’t try to touch her, but offered his manacled hand to help her up.
Without answering his question, she silently took his hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. A glance around the room showed her the key to the chains and she quietly unlocked them for him.
“Are you okay?” she asked, looking over his bleeding body critically.
“Yeah, pet. They’re all superficial cuts. Lots of blood, not much damage. Wanker wanted to be sure I’d be around to watch him have his way with you.”
“As if!” She rolled her eyes and headed for the door. “Come on, vampire,” she threw over her shoulder. “Let’s go home and get you cleaned up.”
They left the building only to find Giles and the rest of the Scoobies resting on the porch. Her watcher stood up as Buffy came out the door.
“Is he...?”
“Yep. Buffy sent another boy friend to hell.”
Her tightly closed face told them not to pursue it and they looked instead at the bloody man trailing behind her.
“Whoa, Capt’n Peroxide. Interesting body art you got there,” Xander snarked. “Can I contribute? There seems to be a bare spot right over your heart. I could fix that....”
“Shut it, Xander.”
Her friend frowned, his feelings hurt at her cold tone.
“I was only kidding, Buff. Deadboy, Jr. knows that, don’t you?’ he turned to look at Spike quizzically.
The vampire just shook his head and frowned toward Buffy, indicating he didn’t want her bothered.
There was an uncomfortable silence for several minutes until Buffy asked, “So, did you guys see any fleeing minions?”
“Yes, we managed to stake all of them as they ran past.” Her Watcher looked from her to Spike. “What, exactly were they running from?”
When Buffy didn’t answer, Spike offered, “They decided backing up their wanker of a sire wasn’t worth a Slayer ass-kickin’. Left him to fend for himself.”
The Watcher nodded in satisfaction. “Well, then, it appears we got them all. A good night’s work, Buffy, Spike.”
The vampire shrugged, “All I was tonight was bait for the Buffy trap. Speaking of which, Slayer, “ he whirled on her. “What the bloody hell were you thinkin’? I’m just telling the stupid prat that you’re too smart to walk into a trap, and in you traipse. By yourself!” He glared momentarily at her Watcher and friends.
She looked at him steadily, then said, “I’m the Slayer. THE Slayer. By myself is how I’m meant to go through life.”
She broke eye contact with the astonished vampire and started walking toward her home. Her Watcher exchanged looks with the frozen vampire and the Slayer’s horrified friends. Xander started to run after Buffy, but Spike put a hand on his arm and said softly, “No. Let her go. She didn’t mean that the way it sounded. She just needs to come to terms with what she had to do. Probably has some grievin’ to do.” He tried to smother the pain he felt at being included in the people she was cutting herself off from.
“Spike is, and I cannot believe I am saying this,” Giles said with an eyeroll, “correct. We must give her some time and space. Buffy’s calling is not an easy one. She has had to make many painful decisions for one so young. She deserves some time to herself.”
With that, they all headed off to their various homes to see how much sleep could be salvaged from the rest of the night. Giles surprised the vampire by offering the use of his bathroom to clean up his wounds. He also managed to find an old tee shirt of Spike’s to replace the ruined shreds left of the one he’d been wearing.
When Spike was cleaned up and vampire healing had already started to close his cuts, he sat down in a chair and gratefully took the glass of scotch the other Brit offered him.
They drank in companionable silence for several minutes until the watcher finally put his glass down and leaned toward the other man.
“I’m not sure how many more times she can be expected to do things like this before she gives up.”
Spike had been resting with his head on the back of the chair, his eyes closed when Giles began to speak, but at that he snapped his head forward, eyes wide open.
“She’ll never give up. It’s not in her,” he insisted, even as he knew the truth of what the watcher was saying.
“You’ve killed two Slayers, Spike. Are you really that good? Or did they just not want to win anymore?” He fixed the vampire with a steady eye and waited for the reply.
“Bit o’ both, I suspect,” he answered honestly with a shrug. “But they were ordinary slayers – all about the mission. No time for friends or family.” He frowned for a second. “Not completely sure about the New York one. Heard she had a kid....but—“
“She did,” the watcher said flatly. “He was three or four.”
He watched Spike carefully and was gratified to see the vampire wince slightly.
“Didn’t know that. Not that it would have mattered back then,” he looked the other man in the eye and waited for a response.
“No,” Giles sighed, “I suppose it wouldn’t have. The Council never has figured out why a girl that old, with a child already, would have been called in place of someone younger.”
“Cause she was damned good,” the vampire responded immediately. “Took me two fights to best her.”
He paused and took another sip from his drink.
“I think she was tired of it. Not that she wasn’t trying to kill me. She was. But when I had her down, she just looked like she was ready for it to be over.”
“Is there,” Giles cleared his throat and started again, “Do you see any sign that Buffy feels that way? She’s been a Slayer much longer than most girls. And she’s lost a lot of people she cared about.”
Spike felt his stomach clench at the thought of Buffy being ready to die for her calling. He thought back over the ways she had changed since he first fought her three years ago.
“She’s not quite the bubbly cheerleader she was before she had to send the great poof to hell; but I don’t see any signs that she’s ready to give it up to some Big Bad just to get a rest. I think she’s made of sterner stuff than you give her credit for, Watcher.”
(At least I hope to hell she is) he thought to himself, vowing to watch her closely for any signs that she was harboring a death wish.
“I hope you’re right, Spike. I just don’t know how many more losses she can handle before.....” He stopped and gave Spike one of his best Ripper glares.
“I really do not want her having to take any more actions like she did with Angel and Riley. If I thought for one minute that you might—“
Spike held up a conciliatory hand. “I’ve already promised her, Watcher, that I will never give her a reason to stake me. I’ll dust myself first before I do that to her. You have my word.”
The other man stared at into the vampire’s steady blue eyes, then nodded his head.
“Alright then,” he said and settled back with his drink.
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