Summary: In "The Killer in Me" Spike's chip started malfunctioning and zapping him up the ying-yang, right? And Buffy and the others kinda started ignoring it after a while, right? Well… what if they ignored it too long?
A/N: Not my first Buffy fic, just the first one I've posted. To any of you wonderful readers who have read my other fanfictions, feel free to berate me for not updating them. I haven't lost interest, I've just lost inspiration. In fact, I'm surprised I even wrote this, I mean, it kind of sucks, to tell you the truth. As for my other fics, if any of my usual readers are reading this, I just wanted to say, I'M NOT GIVING UP ON ANY OF THEM! I just need a little while to recollect my thoughts. I'll definitely try to have a new update for a few of them before summer is over, okay? Good! Now, on with the story…
Disclaimer: Why do we put these? This is FANFICTION (dot) net, not I OWN THIS SO HA (dot) net! So, ha!
He stumbled into the living room, fear gripping his non-beating heart. That last time… he'd barely survived it. He hadn't been able to retain consciousness, and had only barely clung onto life. He didn't know why he avoided telling Buffy, but… no, that was a lie. He knew full well why. He was terrified, and he didn't want to let it on. His pride, and his need to have Buffy be happy and worry free, or well, as happy and worry free as she could be in this mess. But this wasn't good. He wasn't going to be able to make it, of that much he was certain, and he had to tell her… he had to see her, just one last time.
"Buffy," he choked as he staggered through the doorway, the slightest prickles of electricity shooting through his brain. A warning. It always came just before the pain…
"Spike, what's wrong? Is it going off again?" Buffy asked in distracted concern. Willow had been talking animatedly about one thing or another, and Buffy had been intrigued… and this had been happening so frequently, didn't he know they were working to help him?
"It's too late," he admitted, panting even though he didn't need to breathe.
"Too late?" Buffy mimed perplexedly as Willow said, "For what?"
"Me," he breathed, then, his eyes rolled back and he screamed.
His spine-chilling scream of agony ripped through the household, startling the potential slayers and Scoobies from their respective activities. Dawn recognized the voice and flew down the stairs to where they were as fast as she could, followed by Andrew, Giles, and after a while, Xander. They knew what was going on, were used to it, but this scream sounded even more painful than he had sounded before.
"Spike!" Dawn yelled, rushing to his side as he fell to the ground, and grabbed his hand.
"Dawn, it's okay, you know Captain Peroxide's been going through some little jolts every now and then," Xander said with a smirk, but even that was a little forced.
"It's getting worse, guys, we have to do something!" she shrieked, ignoring Xander's comment entirely.
Spike writhed on the ground, the whites of his eyes showing. He made little choking noises every now and then, but not much more than that. Buffy and Willow just stared bewilderedly at the vampire, trying to process what he'd said. Then, their heads snapped up to look at each other as it sunk in. Buffy shook her head once, twice, three times, slowly, mouthing 'no', over and over. Willow gaped at him, remorse taking a front in her emotional range.
Suddenly, amidst all of the turmoil going on around him, Spike fell limp, breathing heavily. He carefully opened his scrunched up eyes to look at the person standing over him. The Little Bit, of course, he thought with an internal smile, even though he was still wracked by pain. He was in the eye of the storm, he knew it. "Nibblet?" he rasped quietly, so quietly she could barely hear him.
"Spike, what is it? Are you okay? Is it over? Do you need anything? Are you okay?" she babbled worriedly.
He chuckled softly, painstakingly bringing up his hand to touch her face. "I love you, Niblet, you and your sister."
And then, the pain took him again. Dawn looked up at her sister uncomprehendingly.
"Buffy, why did he say that? Buffy, what's going on?" she asked, tears running down her face. "BUFFY!"
Buffy kneeled down next to her sister and her vampire, putting a hand briefly on his cheek, before looking her sister in the eye. Dawn could see the wetness starting to creep its way out. "Dawnie, he told us, me and Willow, that… that it was too late for him. I don't… I think he's… oh, God…"
Spike heard the exchange, even if he had to strain to comprehend it through the blinding shots of electricity through his body, and felt a surge of hope born of her tone of voice. She was sad for him. She was crying for him. She was… crying for him… But, wait…
Suddenly another flash of indescribable agony flashed through him, and then… he felt no more.
Dawn and Buffy stared in horror at Spike as he let out a final yelp, and exploded, dust falling down around them.
"DAMN IT!" Buffy roared in fury. "This wasn't supposed to happen! You weren't supposed to, you were never supposed to actually… DAMN IT!"
"No, no, no, oh, please, no!" Dawn yelled, latching onto her sister.
Tears ran down both their cheeks, as they held each other, dust particles sticking to their hands gruesomely, reminding them even as they cried of what had just occurred.
"What?" Xander gasped after a moment, "the HELL just happened?" His eyes were as wide as saucers, and his face was contorted in shock.
"He… he can't have dusted," Andrew murmured, "He- he was supposed to be the hero of this story. The vampire who fell in love, and went out to get a soul to be with the one he loved. He was supposed to help save the world, despite what happened to get in the way. Help the gorgeous heroine stop the biggest bad out there, and earn his repentance. And then unlive happily ever after, kicking butt and taking names. That's the way the story is supposed to go… this… this just doesn't happen. It never happens. The hero never dies for real, unless it's in the end, in a big heroic sacrifice. And this isn't the end!" his voice grew in volume as he spoke, until he yelled the last sentence, not daring to even consider believing what he had just seen. He just stood panting there for a moment, before he ran upstairs to the bathroom, where they could hear the sounds of him throwing up.
"He's… gone." Willow sat down heavily on the couch and surveyed the room around her. Dawn and Buffy on the floor, crying, Xander standing dumbstruck at the entranceway, and a small, scattered pile of dust… with a small, frayed chip sitting right on top.
Finis
A/N: Just a little thought that was bugging me. I mean, what if the chip had killed him? I think I murdered the idea I had though, I just couldn't come up with a plotline for it. If anyone feels the insane urge to take this and turn into an actual story or something, feel free! Peace out!
Hmm… first fanfiction I've posted in a loooooong time… I should probably work on the others, shouldn't I?
Also, if you liked this, feel free to review! I won't promise cookies, because I'm a bit selfish on that front, however telepathic mind-hugs and MORE Buffy fanfictions are actually something I can promise! Because, I do have a few more in the works, mostly angsty pieces, almost always Spike-centric, a few character studies... nothing quite like this though. Then again, that's a good thing, because I think this sucks. The only thing I'm really happy about is Andrew's speech, because it's just... so ANDREW! I like Andrew, see?
So, read, review, favorite, report to the authorities for being a suckish piece of work... whatever you wish. However, don't be surprised if you come back and see I changed a few things. I might tweak this thing every now and again, so... yeah.
