Change the World, Prologue:
Love Leads to Madness
By Clarity Scifiroots
Mature
Content: some regular timeline and then goes AU, sort of Spike-focused in the beginning, violence, insanity, morbid...
Angel/Buffy, Spike/Buffy, Willow/Tart, Xander/Anya, Wesley/Cordelia
Disclaimer apply.
Summary: After years of emotional torture and tug-of-war with friends and love, Buffy breaks down... and she’s out to end things.
January 26, 2002
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
* ~ * ~ *
“Good morning, you sure got up early
- the sun just set.”
Angel ignored Cordelia’s
light-hearted greeting and rummaged through a small pile of mail at the edge of
her desk. “Anything important turn up?”
Turning away from her typing, she
said, “And aren’t we work-addicted today? C’mon, it seems like you got some lead
on wackiness when things have been quiet for days!”
“Look, I’m sorry...” He sighed and
paced away, then came back again. “I’m just restless; I don’t trust this long
of silence.”
“What be the matter?” Doyle entered
the office with a carton of drinks in hand.
“Nothing, so far.
The boss is just on edge. Now... you didn’t have any thoughts on this, right?”
Doyle shrugged. “See? Don’t worry about it, all right?”
Shaking his head, Angel headed into
his own private office to brood.
“Guess we’ll just let ‘im be for a bit.”
“Aye.”
Taking on a new tone, Doyle inquired, “So, do you have plans on Friday?”
Cordelia
rolled her eyes and turned back to her work.
~ * ~ * ~
“Thank you
for...joining me this evening. I’ve just been a bit worried.”
The day before Giles had contacted
“Was there anything that could have
made her change so much? Was there something said,
something that happened...”
“I can’t figure it out,”
Giles nodded, keeping quiet for a
moment. “Would you think back, see if there’s something you overlooked originally?”
“I would have known righ-“ She cut herself off and
averted her eyes. “I’ve been such a lousy friend. I tend to... leave her out
and forget to find out what her sad faces are for...”
Furrowing his brow, Giles leaned
forward. “Would you... describe them - the expressions, I mean.”
She responded, “Okay... I don’t
think it matters one way or another. She’s looked like that before. I mean,
jeez, it happened all the time with...” Her eyes widened. “Oh...
oh! I’m so stupid, such a bad, bad friend!”
Looking helplessly at the
ex-Watcher, she explained. “She’d always get the sad looks back when she was
still adjusting to Angel being a vampire; when Angelus was around; when she got
back from running away; and when everyone was breaking up...
“I don’t know why I ignored it, how
could I? Giles... She, well, when she and Angel broke up - y’know,
right before the prom - she told me a lot. I never wanted to embarrass her or
anything afterwards and she never mentioned it. I’ve never seen anyone so...
depressed. My empathic abilities first caught on there and I knew for sure that
she meant what she said. She was dying, her heart was dying, Giles,
but Angel couldn’t deal.” She looked down at her hands, whispering, “Before Oz
and I got back together he made a point that he couldn’t look at my pain
because he had to deal with his own...”
“So this all goes round back to
Angel again?”
“Looks like it. Should we track him
down? Cuz you know I can...”
Giles stood and headed for the
kitchen. “No, I’m not sure that’s the best idea. We need to know more about
Buffy and what she’s going through. His back was turned and
“I’m sorry I failed you...” he
murmured softly. Now was not the time for guilt, however, and he prepared
himself for plans. There was an urgency bugging him in the back of his mind and
he knew they had to work fast.
~ * ~ * ~
“Get away,” Buffy grunted, annoyed.
Spike’s stride didn’t falter. “No
way, luv, I need to get out tonight and you’re just
the person to follow.”
“Then stay out of my way.” Buffy
turned the corner, which confused the vampire since the cemetery was straight
ahead.
Catching up to her, Spike touched
her elbow. “Um, pet, you missed the cemetery.”
Buffy stopped and glared at him.
“Listen, if you’re going to come along, then you go ahead and follow me with no
questions. Do your own patrol if you’re not happy with mine.” She turned and
started walking.
Uneasy, Spike walked with her again,
pace slower than before. ‘What the hell is she trying to do?’
Buffy’s change hadn’t escaped
unnoticed by anyone who had known her for many years and throughout her time as
an “official” Slayer. Spike originally had looked on, surprised, when Buffy
started her destructive attacks against the demons in town, but eventually
brushed it off as unimportant. Her personality had turned colder, angrier, as
of late and that got his full attention. She wasn’t the Slayer he knew and
cared about anymore, and that was disturbing.
“It’s my fight,
you stay off to the side and let me know of anything incoming.”
“Buff-“
She was already gone, knocking the
large vampire away from its prey. Spike resisted the scent of blood as he made
his way towards the teenager to help her get away. As the girl stumbled off he
couldn’t help but think she was vaguely familiar.
Turning back towards the fight,
Spike was astonished to find Buffy running through extreme patterns of kicks
and punches. She held no stake in hand, no other weapon. Her arms were bloody -
only from the wounds she was dealing to the vampire. There was a brief moment
when the vampire’s human mask was clearly visible, but Buffy never faltered,
only increased the attacks. A cold pit formed in Spike’s stomach.
The fight continued until Buffy’s
companion couldn’t stand to watch any longer and took up the cross bow
abandoned near him and fired. The other vampire looked almost relieved before
he was burst into ashes.
“God damn it,
Spike! Why the hell did you do that?” Buffy stormed over to him, looking
ready to get rid of him as well.
He gripped her shoulders, glaring
right back at her. “Luv, I think you need to explain
some things.”
“Explain? Explain what?!
There’s nothing to explain!”
Gathering his thoughts together,
Spike stayed silent for a moment and tried to understand what she was thinking.
“You took a long time killing that thing... You didn’t need to. Remember? You
stake early so as to not risk other lives.”
“That’s not it, is it?” She asked in
a low voice. It was cold, matching her frozen eyes.
His thoughts chilled and he hid the
beginnings of fear. “No, it’s not. Did you see the resemblance of that
vampire...?”
At that, Buffy smiled widely. “Yes.”
She slipped from his grasp, still smiling, and picked up her weapons, moving on
again. She glanced back, her grin still quite in place. “Oh yes, I’d never miss
it.”
Spike didn’t move, just stared after
her. If she attacked so brutally, knowing who the vampire had looked
like, what was her drive?
“My God, this has gone way too far.”
Disturbed, Spike headed quickly
towards Giles’ apartment since it was rather late for the Watcher to be waiting
at the magic shop.
~ * ~ * ~
The knock on Giles’ door cut off
their conversation for a moment. “I’m not expecting anyone,” said Giles as he
got up to answer the door. The second the door was open a crack Spike shoved
through and began pacing.
“Um... hi, Spike...”
The two watched Spike pacing back
and forth for a time; he appeared to be having some internal argument with
himself and made a wide gesticulation from time to time. “Dear God, man, stop
pacing and fill us in.”
Spike stopped and glared at Giles to
cover up his other emotions. “This has gone on far too long. What is the matter
with that bi- Buffy?”
Ignoring his rudeness, the
ex-Watcher pressed, “What happened?”
He took a long sigh before
collapsing onto an armchair. “Her patrol route was no where near what is should
have been. She kept me at a distance, real cold like.”
“What’s the big deal there?”
Glaring at
“Yeah, that’s what’s been going on
lately... We’re trying to track down what-“
“I haven’t gotten to the best part,
children,” he spat the words out, still disturbed by the memory. “He bloody
looked like Angelus and she was ecstatic with the knowledge of who he looked
like and what she did.”
Silence followed the announcement.
“I-I thought that’s what it was...”
The Wicca shook her head. “Oh God, we’ve got to be missing something! Maybe
she’s possessed... again, by Faith?!... Couldn’t she be? I mean, this isn’t
Buffy...”
“I don’t know what the hell to believe. All I
know is that she’s turned into something she’s not supposed to be.” Spike stood
up again and headed for a bookshelf. He started flipping through book pages,
looking for anything.
“Spike, we have no where to start...
Forget the books, I’m afraid the answer lies closer to
home.” Giles sighed, rubbing his forehead with a hand. Frowning at the vampire
as he began to toss down one book after another, Giles took a stand. “Let it
go, we’ll not find anything there.”
The blond spun around and threw a
book Giles’ way, although it veered off target. His game face was on. “Then you
figure out some better plan,” he snapped.
“I don’t give a damn about the
bitch! Forget this, I’m leaving.”
“We’ll need your help, please wait.”
Giles went to block the vampire’s exit.
Back to his human mask, Spike
replied, “I’ll skip town and head up to
Giles closed the door behind him.
“Shall we inform the others?”
“I don’t know,”
With nothing to say, Giles went
about replacing the books Spike had thrown. After a while,
~ * ~ * ~
Spike was true to his word. When he
returned to his current hideout he loaded into his car and pressed on the gas,
radio blaring. It was only about eleven at night and he would reach
As he sped along the highway he
tried to focus his attention on his surroundings and the deafening music. The
lyrics were too jumbled to make out with his thoughts wandering to the main problem
that was disturbing him so much.
When he had been human, over a
century ago, he had always been cast to the outside. His quiet habits cast off
anyone that might have been a friend. His poetry was bad, but literature had
been his passion. In the end he was rejected by the Lady he had longed for. He
had been “beneath” her. His transformation into a vampire had given him all the
power he craved, with all its strength and confidence. William the Bloody
became Spike, and his original title created a new meaning.
Since that point in time, he only
associated with the foursome band of Angelus’. He’d never liked Darla, but
Drusilla he had loved, and Angelus...? Well, such things were in the past. In
recent few years spent in Sunnydale, he’d faced a lot
of things and went through another change of emotions. For once he felt alive
again, and ready to get out and move along for some action. He’d fallen in
love; never before the stubborn Slayer had he known what that meant.
“Damn bitch...” he muttered.
He knew, but maybe no one else could
tell, that Buffy had never fallen in love after Angel. Even as Angelus roamed Sunnydale there was something that pulled one to the other,
and that kind of devotion scared him. Spike had watched from the outside as
Buffy went on without Angel around. He had tried on numerous occasions to trap
the Slayer, but she was too defiant and pushed him away time after time.
Now things were taking a darker
turn. The once wonderful girl was changing into a mass weapon of her own,
attacking anything in her sights. Her friends had grown apart from her and she
was dealing with things on her own. Somehow in the years passed she’d lost
herself, her meaning, her perspective... Spike wasn’t too sure there was
anything that could have changed that - expect, most likely, that Angel could
have stayed, and the two could be together.
“The bastard’s gonna get a earful from me...”
In his time Spike had observed a
great many relationships - anywhere from mushy and devoted to cruel and
betrayal. He’d known some demons and humans who had hated love and would do
anything to get rid of such emotion, he also knew those who had gone insane
from the pressures of love. Now he only hoped that Buffy was not such a person.
‘I’ll kill him if...’ His
threat trailed off and he focused on the remainder of his drive. There wasn’t
much farther to go.
~ * ~ * ~
“Look, Angel, just let it rest for
the night. Nothing’s coming in for now so we can relax. There’s not much else
to do.” Cordelia snatched the newspaper from his hands
and threw it towards the recycle bin. “Doyle’s sleeping and I’d like to be
doing the same. Besides, you’ve covered the paper five times all ready!”
Sighing, Angel stood and picked up
the paper, folding it and then dropping it into the bin. “Okay, I’ll let go for
now. You might as well go get some sleep. If Doyle wakes up I’ll send him home.
I’ll wait to see if there’s any calls.”
“That’s the best I’ll get from you.”
Cordelia gave a slight smile. She grabbed her jacket
and cleaned up her desk. At the door, she said, “Hey, if Wesley phones, lemme know. I’ll catch you la-“
The door slammed open, knocking Cordelia down, rather ungracefully. “Damn!” she cursed,
glaring up at the intruder. She blinked in surprise when she saw who it was.
“You have the worst timing, you know that? I was actually going to go home
early!”
“Oh so sorry,” Spike responded
sarcastically.
Angel helped Cordelia
up before speaking to Spike. “Why are you here?”
”How’d you find
the place, anyway?” Cordelia was back at her
desk, knowing this wasn’t going to be quick. Doyle was coming out of his sleep
and raised an eyebrow at the guest. “It’s Spike.”
“Charmed, I’m sure. Forget the
introduction crap. It’s not hard to find this place when you know where to
look.” The blond vampire looked around the office to keep from beating the
occupants into a bloody pulp.
“I’d ask what you’ve been up to, but
then again I doubt I’d be interested,” Angel remarked with sarcasm of his own.
Spike laughed at that, giving a
broad grin. “I wouldn’t say that right now. I guess you really don’t know where
I’ve been... Heh. Wouldn’t you love to know.”
“Spill what you want or get out.
You’re not welcome here.”
“Well, well, isn’t that so? Still testy after that ancient struggle with commando-boy?”
His eyes flared momentarily. “All right, want back story or just the current
themes? Wait, let me guess, you want only the bare facts. Let’s sum it up to
something easy: Sunnydale. Buffy.
Madness.”
“Buffy?”
The younger vampire turned away,
annoyed, even though he had known, that Angel only
recognized the Slayer’s name. Angel’s gaze turned cold. “What’s this about
Spike? What are you doing back in Sunnydale?”
Laughing, Spike responded, “Figure
the town’s still yours? It’s my home, idiot, and I’ve been there for
years. Then again, you wouldn’t know a thing about it, considering you’re
keeping your ass up here, leaving things behind so that it’ll all be ‘normal.’
The only times you’ve come down have screwed up, haven’t they?”
“Whoa, back up the tape here and
stop blaming Angel.” Cordelia was standing between
the two of them now. “Damn, I never thought I’d be doing this... you two are
acting like little brats! Calm down, would you?” When the two turned away from
one another, she tried again. “Spike, get to the point.”
The vampire paced to the other side
of the room, mood quickly sinking back to ground zero. “So I’ve been in Sunnydale a while, more than a while. Thing is, nothing
will ever be normal there, not for the folks I’ve been with. Things go far
worse than abnormal, though. In fact, things have been shot to hell. No one
wanted to see it before hand and now it’s too far along...” Spike
crossed towards Angel, keeping his eyes locked and face cold. “Buffy’s out for blood. I heard about Faith and saw her
once, and that’s who she’s turning into.”
Angel punched him, snapping Spike’s
face around. “Don’t lie to me,” he threatened in a low voice.
Once Spike fixed his sore jaw, he
glared fiercely at his Sire. “If you don’t believe me I’ll leave you to her.
She’ll have love behind it, I’ll only have hate.” He stepped back. “Call Giles
or the Witch, they’re making plans of what to do.”
“I can’t believe this, puh-lease!”
“I’m really lost at this point.”
Cordelia
sighed. “Sorry Doyle, guess you’ll get caught up later. But really, Spike,
don’t you think that’s a stupid plan? C’mon, like Buffy would turn into so
madwoman murderer!”
“Watch her fight and tell me she
isn’t.”
“Why are you up here? Why would any
of this matter to you?” Angel demanded, trying to keep the information from
sinking in. He couldn’t accept it, it wasn’t possible.
Coldly Spike watched him. “Forgive
me for actually taking the time to let you know. Trust me, I’d much rather be
back home and planning some chaos than saving your ass! But if she snaps back
from this, and she’s killed you, she’ll never forgive herself. It doesn’t
matter where you are, who you are, or if you’re living. Her thoughts are only
on you!”
“She moved on.”
Spike finally hit him. He gripped
Angel by his shirt, game face on. “You listen to me! Do you really think I’d
just let her do this? To herself? I don’t care about
the others, not you, not the damn Scoobies! She’ll
hate herself, more than likely kill herself, if she does one shred of damage to
any of you.” His voice lowered but the threat remained as underlying ice.
“Maybe it’s all ready too late to help her but God knows I’ll try to get the
bitch back to normal.”
He let Angel go, turning away to
lean against the wall as his human mask settled back into place. “Why do you
think I tore up here to tell you, huh? Then again, you wouldn’t know. You’re a
blind fool when it comes down to her and love.” Spike shook his head, disgust
and concern mixed in an unrecognizable form on his face. “No, you don’t get it
unless it’s spelled out for you.”
Silence reigned for a number of
minutes. The occupants of the room seemed frozen in time. Spike wasn’t looking
at anyone, but Angel was watching him carefully while the remaining two looked
between the vampires.
It was Cordelia,
with her usual tact, that broke through the moment.
“Well, jeez, it’s so obvious you’re in love with Buffy. God, is there
anyone who isn’t?!”
“I don’t know her, does that count?”
Doyle added to the mix, feeling quite out of place.
“You’re what?!”
The blond stopped glaring daggers at
Cordelia to laugh in Angel’s face. “Good lord, you’ve
proven what I said.”
“Shut up. Keep your hands off her.”
“Oh, so now it comes around to
fighting over her and you act like it’s your place to claim her? Where the hell
have you been!”
“Don’t we have a different focus,
gentlemen?”
“Doyle’s right. Break it up you two.
Spike, you’re the man of the hour, so spill all the details. The boss might not
need back story but I sure as hell do.”
<<<
Little over a year ago <<<
“Look at you.” Spike smirked,
leaning against a park bench not far from where Buffy was sitting next to the
pond. She didn’t turn to face him. “Here all this time you’ve been lovesick and
yet you criticized me back in the Dru days.”
“Shut up, Spike.” Her voice was
steady.
He strolled up to her. “Not so soon,
pet, I’ve hardly gotten to play.”
The Slayer didn’t respond, still
focusing her gaze over the pond. Frowning, Spike sat down beside her and ran
his gaze over the view. “Uh, luv, there’s not much
out there.” Things weren’t turning out as he’d wanted - he had been all ready
for the typical sparring of words but Buffy wasn’t responding. When he was able
to think, really think, around her without such verbal wars, he started to have
problems. Memories of Drusilla cursing him for being interested in a Slayer
still haunted him... because he could never argue with it.
Now he was studying her face
closely, and his mood dropped when he noted the thin tracks of tears she hadn’t
wiped away. He sighed quietly, touching her elbow gently. “What is it, pet?”
Buffy shook her head, avoiding his
eyes. Spike captured her chin and forced her face towards him but she closed
her eyes.
“What’s with the games, now?” He was
happy for the distraction, though, because in a matter of moments he knew he would
be staring into her intense gaze and he would see all that was wrong and all
that was right in the world. He would drown.
Eventually Buffy did give in,
opening her eyes to glare defiantly at him.
He could see it, now, could see that she was afraid and hurt. Spike
didn’t have to verbally ask his question, for she answered him steadily.
“She’s dying.”
The two words had taken all the
remaining strength the Slayer had and she closed her eyes again, breaking into
sobs that shook her body.
It wasn’t something he could handle.
Spike had moved away from gentleness, always hating to be so weak, but he had
been forced to change as time went by. Buffy changed anyone she met, be it for
the worst or the best, and he hadn’t been left out. Uneasily he released her
face and patted her back with a stiff hand. She fell against him, the rest of
her defenses falling to nothing.
Her small hands - he had never
realized how delicate they looked before - grasped his shirt tightly as she
choked on her tears. As the minutes passed, Spike was able to bring his arms
up, holding her lightly against him. He bowed his head and internally cursed
his emotions, and doubly damned whatever cruel weaver of fate had brought on
this sadness to his Slayer.
At the time he didn’t beat himself
over the last part, at the moment he was too caught up in his own feel of loss.
He really did like Joyce Summers... She was an odd woman who had learned to
tough things out. She was a good woman, really the first person in Sunnydale that had taken an almost immediate - well, after
the open house incident - liking to him.
“I’m sorry...” he said softly.
“She’s a tough cookie... you shouldn’t worry...” Buffy attempted a smile but
failed. Spike let her cry herself out, no longer did
he have any other plans.
>>>Present>>>
“She’s dying?” Cordelia
asked, concerned. “Why didn’t someone let me know?”
Spike corrected, “Dead. She’s dead. Shortly after, actually.” To himself he added, ‘And I
continue to wish it had been some demon that did it. There needs to be some
embodiment of evil to thrash about and kill.’
“No one ever called...” Angel wasn’t
happy, already starting to look uncomfortable with the story thus far. Spike
didn’t care, in his opinion it was time to shove some evidence in his face so
that he could see that Buffy needed him.
“How was she after that...?”
“Quiet...”
<<<Shortly
after Joyce’s funeral<<<
Buffy was in her room, packing her things into
boxes silently. Downstairs Anya and Xander were busy putting general items into boxes.
Around eight o’clock Spike entered
the house. The downstairs occupants eyed him wearily but he ignored them and
headed up to the second floor. Filled boxes were all ready lined up in the
hall. Tomorrow they’d be moved into storage and the house would go up for sale.
He knocked on the doorframe of Buffy’s room as he came in.
“How’re you doing, pet?”
"Shouldn't you be out of town,
the Initiative is down, no more revenge. No more reason for you to stay -
forcing you to."
The Slayer straightened and faced
him with her thin, pale body and stoic face. Her eyes were ringed with shadows
from poor nights of sleep. Spike didn’t even know if she’d gotten any sleep
since her mother’s funeral, only a few days before.
“The flowers on her grave are nice,”
he commented, without much to say.
She laughed at him, but it was bitter.
“Yeah, nice. And every night during patrol I’ll be
fighting and killing demons straight above her dead body!” Whirling back to her
packing, Buffy tossed in her remaining clothes and shut the box. “Go away.”
“I won’t do that, pet.” He watched
for her reaction and caught the fear in her eyes before she covered it with
anger again. “I won’t just let you go.”
“Why not?” she
demanded. “Everyone else has at some point! So why not
you? What makes you so ‘special’ that you won’t drop me?” She was
standing close to him, poking his chest with a finger to emphasize her words.
Spike caught her hand in one of his.
“Should I really answer that?”
Staring at him for a while, Buffy
withdrew her hand and turned to a new box. With her back to him she whispered,
“Get out of here. I don’t want to deal with you.”
Slowly Spike turned away, gazing at
her one last time before descending the stairs. Giles was at the bottom,
obviously waiting to find out what happened. “Didn’t get much
out of her. Keep cracking at it.” The vampire was out the door before
anyone else talked to him.
>>>Present>>>
“What’s with the chip deal?”
In brief, Spike talked about the
Initiative and his encounters with the commandos and how a chip had been placed
in his brain to keep him from attacking.
“It was one hell of a deal...”
Cordelia
watched him skeptically. "And now the chip's out? Are you back to battle-boy mode or what?"
"Or what; and I haven't gotten it
out," he replied.
<<<Under
a year ago<<< (Spike’s explanation in the present is much more vague)
“Why are you following the Slayer
around, Spike? Change into the new lap dog after she got rid of her first?”
Spike attacked the vampire taunting
him, pissed as hell. Buffy worked against the three surrounding her, using
their closeness to her advantage - taking more than one out at a time. Two
watched from the sidelines to get in extra hits when someone was open.
The lead vampire still hadn’t given
up his verbal play - he really couldn’t get winded - and it was beginning to
grind on Spike’s nerves. Gaining momentum with some of Buffy’s classic moves he
knocked the leader down and slammed the knife he hid in his sleeve through the
leader’s chest. He was gone in a burst of dust.
“C’mon children; let’s play.” Spike
grinned, God it was good to be able to fight again. Two vampires rushed at him
and he caught sight of only one fighting with Buffy. The kill was quick, and
the rush of it all was exhilarating.
Buffy dusted the last attacker and
pocketed her stake. Spike came towards her and immediately smelled warm blood,
her blood. “You got hit.”
His remark received a glare. “Like you haven’t.”
“Not from ridiculous runts like
these.” He didn’t continue because he know his words
weren’t arguing with her anymore, and he was a bit unnerved that she’d gotten
hurt.
In
their silence the two scanned the area for any other attackers. There had been
a number of bodies buried that day and they had to wait and check if any of
them would rise. Thus far no one had, but then again it wasn’t that late.
Spike leaned against a tombstone
engraved with a Celtic cross while Buffy continued to stand, body tense and
prepared. As they waited, Spike studied the Slayer carefully, gaze drawn to her
body automatically. She was wearing jean
Her
blood scent drew his attention to more of her details and he could pick out the
drops of sweat that remained from their earlier fight. She was breathing
steadily, but he observed her chest rise and fall with each intake and outtake
of air. Finally he found her trail of blood, only being able to see it when she
raised her left arm away from her side.
Jolting back to reality, Spike got
up and went towards her. “That’s it, we’re heading out
and taking care of patrol later. That mark isn’t just some scratch.”
Buffy watched him calmly. “Do you
really want it closed up? C’mon Spike, I know what you were staring at. Didn’t
you say you got off on this...?” She smiled, but it wasn’t even remotely
related to Buffy’s typical expressions. She pressed close to him and Spike
couldn’t move. It was already hard enough to keep his bloodlust at bay.
Looking down, Buffy touched her
hand, almost wonderingly, to her side, coating her fingers in red blood. She
lifted them to Spike’s lips. “Go ahead, you know you want to.” Her body pressed
even closer and she ran her free hand up his chest.
“N-now, luv... stop it...” He tried
to back up, but Buffy followed, laying a hard punch to his stomach. The
movements she made were similar to her pattern of attacks she had dealt to
Angel to make him drink her during high school graduation.
It worked again, for when Spike
stood up straight again his game face was on and the bloodlust held him. He pushed
Buffy to the ground and held her down with his own body. He yanked up the left
side of her shirt, drawn to it to feed on the blood running from her wound. The
Slayer tangled her fingers in his hair, giving small laughs of pleasure and he
let his hand wander under her shirt and cupping her breast. He left the blood,
moving towards her mouth to share her blood.
Some sense was making its way into
Spike’s brain - enough so that he decided not to drink her - but he didn’t stop
his other movements. He wanted her, badly. All the times prior this he was able
to keep back with Buffy’s rejection of him. Now she was provoking him
purposefully and leaving herself open to him.
His kisses were brutal, harsh, but
she met him with a force of her own. Overwhelmed with the onslaught of emotions
flowing through him, Spike jerked her pants open and slipped his fingers under
her panties and into her opening. She groaned against his mouth. He felt her
hands teasing him, taking her time undoing his belt and the fastening of his
pants.
“Shit,” he hissed when she finally
came in contact with his hardened manhood.
Not caring to wait, he pulled down
Buffy’s pants and underwear to her knees before slamming into her. She rose up
against him, a smile decorating her lips. Spike slipped her tank top down with
ease to have better access to her chest. He licked a trail along her collarbone
and down to her breasts, all the while acutely aware of her rushing blood being
pumped by her racing heart. The rest of the world flew away with the first
orgasm and Spike let Buffy roll him over so she was on top and running the
show.
The things she did were a completely
new sensation and he was too far-gone to stop anything.
>>>Present>>>
“Okay, so you patrolled with her. Let’s keep
moving,” Cordelia prodded.
Spike cleared his head and hid a
bitter smile. “Yeah, patrol. She was different. I tend to notice the quirks early, everyone else was in denial for a long time...”
“But you denied it, too,” Angel
stated, knowing the answer.
“Yes, well... Her attacks were
getting vicious. Little girl did well, she fights like a wild beast.” In
response to their threatening gazes he said, “If the bitch hadn’t... it
wouldn’t have bothered me. Now it’s just fucking wrong.”
The blond stood up, took out a cigarette
and lit it. He took a while to collect his thoughts again. “Her patrols turned
into something else. Hunting, I guess, since she was out on the prowl to kill,
for sport. She takes her time, torturing what she can and killing them when
they’re begging for it.” He let out a puff of smoke and turned his back to
them, muttering, “She gets off on it now.”
It took a bit for that to sink in.
When he was ready to face them again, he found Cordelia
looking rather confused, Doyle frowning, and Angel with disturbed eyes - his
other features stoic.
“What do you mean?”
Rolling his eyes at her, Spike
snapped, “She enjoys it a little too much!”
Cordelia
stared at him. “Eww, that is like, really, really
gross.”
That made Spike want to laugh, but
he felt the eyes of his Sire burning at him. He knew that he wouldn’t be able
to keep Angel from knowing for long. Spike stared straight at him, waiting for
the question to come, when he would have to acknowledge his wrongdoings.
“Who’s she been with?”
“Want to know her lovers now, isn’t
that nice? God she’ll love that everyone’s dipping into her life, brilliant way
to cure all this!”
Doyle helped Cordelia
get things calmed down again.
“You two are nuts! Worse than
siblings, can’t you be decent for more than five minutes?” Cordelia
focused her attention on Spike. “Not like I really want to know about Buffy’s
sex life, but I guess it’d make sense to know some idea of it.”
“And of course I should know it all,
shouldn’t I?” Spike bit back. Outside, the sun had started to rise, bringing
forth the new day. “I missed the beginning part of this madness. By the time
they dragged me into the picture she was clinging to commando-boy like a wet
shirt - disgusting. Damn bastard...”
“That your opinion or hers?”
Spike glared at Angel. “You get a
bloody chip in your head and see how you like it.” Spike paused a few moments,
eyes looking away as his face tightened. “No, he was the best thing for her.
Buffy swooned over him for a while, yeah...His new obsession with vampires blew it to
hell. He left. Right before her mum died.”
Lifting an eyebrow, Angel prompted,
“And...?”
“We’ve never been together, leave
it.”
“So we’re in the present now, right?
What finally made you come up here and talk to us - er,
to Angel?”
Spike had to hand it to her, Cordelia had improved over
the years. Even though she was still tactless, she was able to control things
when they needed to be. “For a while she was getting all weird with mention of
you-know-who’s name, but not the whole teary-eyed ‘poor me’ look. Last night
she practically stated it all openly...” Growing tired from his constant anger
of the past few hours, Spike finished his report shortly. “Her attacks were
increased against a vampire who had the general looks of gloomy boy, here. I
don’t know what she would have done with ‘im had I
not slain the damn thing myself. She was practically glowing with the knowledge
of his likeness.”
“I was right all the time!” Cordelia announced. “She’s a nutcase. Jeez, why does it
take everyone so long to figure it out?”
“Cordy!”
She quieted at Angel’s voice.
“Sorry. What do we do from here?”
The general focus remained on Spike.
Covering his eyes in frustration he ground out, “I came here to warn you, you
know why, I haven’t eaten, and I’m tired of thinking! Someone else make up a
bloody plan!”
“I can cure hunger problem!” Cordelia got to her feet and headed into Angel’s private
office where the small refrigerator and microwave were kept.
When she returned with a mug of
blood, Spike had an amusing flashback of his time spent chained in Giles’
bathtub and of
Things had remained quiet for a bit
too long, so Doyle inquired, “What’s the amusement for?”
“Nothing anyone here would get.”
Spike eyed Angel over the mug. “Although it was really pathetic the arguments
we got into over a wed- Um, never mind.” He finished off the mug and set it on
the floor. “If everyone here is so daft, call back to Sunnydale
for some ideas. Do I have to do everything? How can this place run?”
“You call back to Sunnydale and get any updates or ideas. Cordy,
Doyle, go on home and get some rest.”
“Leave you two, alone?” Cordelia stared at them skeptically for a long time.
“Okay!” She threw on her coat and was dragging Doyle out the door a second
later.
Spike went to Cordelia’s
desk and picked up the phone, preparing to dial. Angel’s hand blocked the
numbers.
“I figured it’d come to this.”
Setting the phone back down, Spike leaned against the desk with his arms
crossed. “Fine, hit me with all those personal questions... Where do you want
to start?”
It was remarkable how Angel could
keep up the indifferent mask. He hit at point blank, “You slept with her.”
“Not slept nor making love, trust
me, mate, that’d’ve been nice, but it was plain out
sex.” He was bitter, hating himself and feeling so helpless when he thought
about Buffy. “I’m not putting the blame on her, shit,
I’m supposed to have control. It happened. It’s done, and when she’s back to
her senses she’ll hate me and fall into your arms!”
“It’s not that easy...”
“Do you know that?”
Angel narrowed his eyes, “What?”
Repeating himself, Spike wandered
about the office, “Do you know it’s not so easy? You haven’t really seen
her for years. You left her behind, a poor little girl, and she’s grown up as
one helluva tiger. You didn’t witness her change, her
sadness, happiness, losses, or troubles. You don’t know her anymore and for now
you only have me to depend on for information. I don’t think you realize how
bad the situation is.”
“Go ahead and call... I’ll go-“
“Look something up? Let’s!” Spike’s sarcasm was going back to normal, oddly a
plus at the moment. Angel headed into his office and Spike picked up the phone
on Cordelia’s desk, again.
~ * ~ * ~
“Keep an eye on her today, would
you?”
“I haven’t stopped...”
“She’ll be okay.”
Nodding,
Spike had left last night and
reached
This had to end before someone other
than demons got hurt. Buffy’s rage was expanding and reaching out to wrap the
demons she fought in its tentacles.
Silently Giles picked up one of the
books
In the end they’d use spells, but it
would be something other than what their original ideas were. Everything had
gone end over end and inside out in Sunnydale and
mixed things into a wonderful concoction of confusion and mayhem. As always,
the way out of it would be something just as insane.
~ * ~ * ~
“Since we’re stuck here for the day,
together -“ Spike shuddered dramatically “I might as
well help find some protection spell for you...”
Angel glared at him across the desk.
“You’re pretty focused this thing. It’s even making you semi-bearable.”
“Ha, ha, see me laugh,” Spike said
distractedly. His fingers were trailing over the books on the shelves and
picked out the volumes he was looking through. Experience with researching with
the witch and librarian had a lasting effect on him...
After a long period of silence,
Angel asked, “What did you find out?”
Looking up, Spike rose
a brow. “Eh? Oh, the call. Red keeps eye on Slayer, girlfriend-witch takes care
of Dawn, and Ripper reads like mad. I won’t even mention the other two.”
“Any other plan?” he dryly
questioned.
“Not really, mate. Right now the
objective is to find some way to contain Slayer, to protect your poofy head, and cure all this insanity.”
Hitting detective mode, Angel stood
and started a slow pace around the room. “Did they give us any starters?”
“Being civil now, are we?”
“I’ll deal with you later.”
Spike smirked. “Yes, peaches.
They’re looking in on the spells and such that could have caused all
this. I’m going in another direction - finding a way to cure all this.”
The peroxide blond turned serious. “I’m thinking time travel.”
“Time alteration?”
Angel stopped in place, turning back to Spike.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“... It’s worked before...”
“What?” Spike looked up, sensing a
story coming up. Angel slowly turned back to face him, expression darkened with
old guilt.
~ * ~ * ~
“You know, Buff, we were planning on meeting
up at Anya and Xander’s for
the night. You gonna come, cuz it would be really fun!”
The blond shrugged casually, her
typical silent and deep self that she was these days. “I guess it would be
okay. A movie fest?”
“Yeah, actually.
Um... A real mix; toss in out favorite ‘let’s make fun
of’-s and a few normal-ish things. Still
in?”
“Sure. What’s the normal?”
By now the two girls were sitting at
a table in the expresso pump and ordering their
drinks.
A small smile broke onto Buffy’s
face as she listened to her friend. It was enough of a surprise that
‘I just wish I knew what we were
going to do about this...’
~ * ~ * ~
“You what?!”
Spike snapped at him. He paced towards the wall and took a number of good kicks
at it to keep himself from pulling Angel’s head off.
“It was the only way.”
“Don’t give me piss-shit.” Spike
rounded on him, jabbing his finger accusingly in the air. “That was a damned
selfish thing for your nancy-boy self to do! Letting
it go would have stopped all of this! She wouldn’t have gone any farther with
the Initiative, I never would have built up any fucking feelings for her; for
gods’ sake - maybe her mum wouldn’t be dead, there wouldn’t have been problems
with Dawn...
“You get the blame now, oh mighty
one,” he spat. “You made her lose it. You went and made her fucked up...!”
“Spike!”
Angel stood his ground a few feet away, fists clenched. “Don’t start with me.
You think those thoughts haven’t gone through my head, damn it?! It wouldn’t
have been better. It never could have been. She’d just be dead and things would
be worse.”
Silence reigned as Spike turned
away, body still completely tense, but he could find no words to help express
his raging emotions. Angel sighed after a while and sat down in his chair and
brought his hands to his face.
“It had to have started earlier - we
both know that. So... that’s what we’re heading for.” Composing himself, he sat
up straight and met Spike’s stoic gaze. “We’ll move back time. Right now we
need to contact Sunnydale and get the details set.
I’ll go back - change things so all of this alters.”
Spike continued to regard him
quietly for a number of more minutes before he gave any input on the subject. “You sure that you can fix it? Seems to me
the two of you made a mess of this, someone on the outside should try.”
“Like who?” Angel demanded. “Come
on, no one else will fit the bill.”
“Fine.
We’ll talk to the Scoobies about that. Other thing to consider, mate. Is this time alteration only effecting our timeline?”
Angel lifted a brow. “What?”
“Parallel universes, alternate
realities - you know the drill. Time alteration at one time won’t always mean
it changes everything. The rest of us will be dealing with this shit while you
go flying off to try repairing a different world.”
The other vampire was quiet in reply.
He shifted his eyes away, trying to consider those words. Perhaps when the
Powers that Be took care of the time alteration of before were able to change
‘all’ the worlds with their power - but if this was a spell cast by a handful
of humans and vampires, the case could be totally different. But what else
could they do?’
Looking up, he said, “There’s no
other choice.”
“Yeah, that’s one thing you’re right
about.” Spike’s lips tightened in a straight line as he motioned towards the
phone.
Angel picked up the receiver and
dialed the number to the Magic Box while Spike took out a cigarette and started
his nervous habit.
~ * ~ * ~
They gathered themselves together
amazingly quickly. Of course they were very anxious to fix all the crap that
was going on.
Spike and Angel were to be there
soon, having left in the afternoon and speeding back to Sunnydale
in a blacked-out car. They’d argued for a long time over who was going to
drive, and Spike eventually won.
The “Closed” sign was turned on the
window to keep out the normal customers. When the black car pulled up outside,
Dawn ran out, carrying a big blanket with her.
Once
she’d gotten them inside and locked the door, she gripped Spike’s shirt and
looked up with worried eyes. “This will work? Right?
Please say it will! It has to!”
“Now, now, pet... nothing to worry
about, it’ll all settle.” The blond vampire gave her hair a few strokes for
comfort before detaching himself from her. “Where’s the bookman?”
“Let’s not waste time.
“Where is she now?” he asked as they
passed into the large back room reserved for Slayer-training. He was extremely
impressed with the whole place and amazed with how many items were for sale
within the store.
“Everyone else is at Xander’s for a movie fest, guess like some happy memory
time,” Dawn tried to sound annoyed that she was left out but it was only a
half-heartened attempt.
Silently Spike squeezed her shoulder
in reassurance and moved towards
“No, nothing that bad... We just
need to find exactly where we want to perform all this. First, uh, Angel will
be sent back and then we’ll do the confinement spell.”
“Right then.
You’re the one with experience,” Spike directed towards Angel, “so where do you
want to be sent off from?”
~ * ~ * ~
Giles’ phone call interrupted them
in the middle of X-men. Anya had purposefully
not been told about their plans, just in case she slipped something (like she
usually did) but Xander and
“We better get over there to see
what’s wrong, he sounds really worried,”
Buffy shrugged and got up. “Fine,
let’s go see some action.”
They reached the Magic Box and
entered, Buffy going first. Xander held Anya back with
Before she got any farther inside,
an entire group tackled her and worked fast to tie her up. Spike did most of
the work and said nothing, blindly tightening the ropes on her arms. He helped
with tying her legs while Angel bound her ankles.
All the while she was snapping at
them and struggling - often hitting her targets and knocking them off her. They
were prepared, however, and she didn’t have a real chance to escape.
“Okay, we gotta
move fast, so um... right. Angel, stand right there-“
Buffy watched,
her struggling stopped as she smiled cruelly at her former love with a
murderous gleam to her eyes. He watched on, horrified but unable to fully
portray it. Spike moved her onto a chair and stood by her, Xander
on the other side.
Currently Tara and
It was in that time that Buffy
miraculously freed her right arm and with amazing speed broke off part of the
chair for a crude stake and threw it. No one really knew how to react; Tara and
Willow were already channeling the higher powers needed for the spell and no
longer were aware of their surroundings, Angel was stuck in place in the circle
if he wanted to finish the task, and everyone else didn’t have much of an
option.
Cursing himself for caring at all,
Spike sprinted forward and knocked his Sire out of the magic circle as the
stake flew in. He felt so shocked when sharp wood pierced his favorite coat,
his other clothes, and his skin. It closed in and went straight through.
He let out a choked cry as he felt
his body come apart and tried to see her face a last time, but instead could do
nothing but give into the order of events.
Vanished.
Ah! Don’t kill me! Jeez! By “the end” I mean of this... prologue(?) since there’s more stories (a.k.a. “cases” to follow). So no freaking, kaies? ;;^^ What do you think? Is this idea totally bogus or do I have something going here?