Disclaimer: This is a piece of fan fiction. All characters, rights, privileges, etc. belong to Joss Whedon. Forever Knight characters belonging to James Parriott, Columbia Tri/Star. Song quoted is from CD by Sarah McLachlan.
Continuation of story line begun in Just Friends
"Make me a Witness"
She was particularly careful in descending the stairs to avoid the steps that always creaked. "Ugh, red shag," Buffy thought to herself as she reached the basement floor. "It's so seventies. That's probably how we got the house so cheap."
There he was. Dead guy sleeping. Wrapped up like a mummy under the covers, she imagined he would look more at home on a slab in the morgue than on a cot in her family room. At least it makes it easier to do this. She reached under the cot and flipped it over dumping Spike unceremoniously onto the carpet covered cement floor.
"Bloody Hell! Why did you do that?" he roared, trying to jump to his feet, but getting tangled in his bedding and falling to the floor again. "Getting even with me for passing up a night of Buffy delight?"
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," she said. "Are you coming with me or do you plan on sleeping all day. It's after sunset already and I have to stop off at the magic shop to see Giles and drop off Dawn, get back to the hospital before visiting hours are over and then go on patrol."
"Sounds like you have a busy night, kill two demons and call me in the morning." He gathered the sleeping bag around him and climbed back onto the cot.
"Spike! Get your lazy ass out of that bed and get dressed. You know I've been off my game lately and I need some backup. I have responsibilities and I don't have time to coddle some lay-about vampire."
She pulled off his covers before noticing that he had removed every stitch of clothing the night before. Standing up totally nude he exclaimed, "Now, where did I take off my pants."
Buffy gathered his clothes from across the room and threw them back at him on her exit up the stairs. "I expect to see you at the car in five minutes."
Spike didn't move to cover himself. "Okay, but I'm driving," he shouted at her retreating back. He laughed to himself while getting dressed. That'll give her something else to think about.
Five minutes later,
Sliding into the driver's side, Spike found the keys already in the ignition and Dawn in the back seat giggling about something Buffy had just told her. He announced to all, "I just want you to know that the only reason I'm here is that I plan on nipping a bag or three of blood tonight at the hospital. I'm starved, doesn't anyone around here care about my needs?"
"Poor Spikey," Dawn's voice piped up from the back seat. Then she and Buffy erupted into spasms of laughter.
Xander and Anya were at the counter looking at catalogs as the threesome entered the otherwise empty magic shop. Xander looked up, "Well, if it isn't the Slayer and her pet vampire."
"Catch any juicy spiders lately, Bug boy."
"You're never going to let that go, are you, Spike?"
"Not a chance," he replied, as he threw a leg over a chair next to the table in the middle of the room.
Xander directed his attention next to Dawn, "Hi, doll-face, looks like it's you and me again tonight." She appreciated that he made it sound more like a date than a babysitting job. "So what's it going to be a movie at the multiplex or holiday reruns on the ol' tube?"
Buffy answered, "It's going to be homework and early to bed for this little girl." Dawn rolled her eyes, but she kept her mouth shut. She knew that Xander would come up with something that would keep the night from being a total loss. He gave her a conspiratorial wink.
"Where's Giles? I thought he'd be here tonight." Buffy inquired.
Anya pointed toward the back of the building,"Oh, he's in the storeroom opening boxes. He's been fussing back there for hours leaving me to do all the real work around here."
"And very competently I might add," Xander piped up.
"Suck up, Bug Boy, you know what side your buns are buttered."
Buffy left Xander and Spike zinging one-liners at each other and found Giles deeply involved with a text that he had just unwrapped. It was good to see the former librarian filled with purpose once again. Ever since she asked him to resume his duties as her Watcher he began rebuilding his collection of research materials that had been destroyed in the library fire.
Looking up after carefully marking his place, he asked with concern, "Hello, Buffy, how's your Mother doing today?"
"Hi, Giles. We don't really know. The doctors say her operation was a success, but she keeps drifting in and out of consciousness. I can't help but think it must be something more than that tumor they removed."
"Is there anything that I can do to help?"
"No, nothing for now. I guess we just have to wait and see. Whatcha got there?"
"Oh, this? It's a translation of an ancient Sumerian text about the origins of the first vampires and, coincidentally, it mentions a young woman who dedicated her life to hunting them out and destroying them. They don't actually have a name or title associated with the young woman, but it may be the earliest recorded reference to a Slayer. I've just started reading it. I'll let you know more as I get deeper into it."
She began fidgeting, moving books around on the table. He sensed that she wanted something more from him, so he asked, "Is there something I can do for you today."
"Giles, have you ever heard of a vampire who sort of gets rehabilitated without actually getting his human soul back?"
He chose his words carefully, "You mean an actual vampire with demon soul in tact who regrets his past actions and seeks to make reparation?
"Well," she shrugged her shoulders, "If not exactly rehabilitated at least he stops killing people and sucking them dry? Could a vampire like that ever be trusted?"
"Whatever could she be thinking about?" He thought to himself and then it dawned on him, "Oh, dear lord, you don't mean Spike? With that chip in his head he may be harmless to humans, but trustworthy? Never! He hasn't said or done anything to make you think otherwise has he?"
"No, of course not!" She denied almost too vehemently. "Why would you even think of such a thing. He's Spike. Killer of Slayers. Dru's lap dog. I only trust him as far as I can throw him! Which I admit is pretty far."
She hesitated briefly and asked again, "Have you ever read about anything like what I said before?"
He removed his glasses, picked up a cleaning cloth to wipe the dust covering the lenses. He spoke slowly trying to recollect the details to old memories; "The truth is that I may very well be standing here before you, because of such a creature. You know I toyed with many dangerous things in my misspent youth, but one series of events in particular was almost my complete undoing."
"It's no secret that I had once dabbled in the dark arts. This practice brought me into contact with people and creatures on the fringes of society. One evening I met an incredible beauty by the name of Janette. For the next two weeks we were practically inseparable. She and her friends, Nicolas and LaCroix, seemed so much more interesting than anyone I had ever met including those from University. We talked all night and slept all day. I thought I was desperately in love with her and when she spoke to me of their immortality, it seemed that the most natural thing to do was to agree to join them. As soon as she bit into my neck I knew I was going to die, that what she was really offering me was only an illusion of life, but I was powerless to resist her."
He continued, "Some vampires have the power of seducing their victims before killing them. For some, the act of seduction is almost as important as the feeding. I vaguely remember what happened next. One of her friends, Nicolas, burst into our bedroom and pulled her away from me. She screamed at him and slashed his face like a wild woman."
"Two days later I woke up in my bedroom and Nicolas was sitting in a chair across the room. He had kept watch over me during that time to make sure Janette did not return and stayed with me during my recovery. He spoke with incredible sadness of the 700 years he had spent as one of the undead. He was disgusted with what he was and yearned to regain his humanity. Except in extreme cases, he no longer fed on humans. I heard that he was actually working nights as a homicide detective in Toronto. I came to think of him as an extraordinary person."
She was stunned by Giles story. "Buffy, I don't think for a moment Spike is anything like Nicolas. Even with that chip in his head, he is very dangerous."
"Who said anything about Spike? Did I even mention his name?"
At that moment Spike opened the storeroom door and peered in, "Ready to go, luv? It's getting late."
Buffy jumped up. "Well, gotta go. Visiting hours are over at 9."
He gave one final warning as she left with Spike, "Be careful, Buffy, be very careful."
They sat on opposite sides of Joyce's hospital bed waiting for her to awake.
"What were you and Giles talking about?" He asked. "I kept hearing my name mentioned."
"We weren't talking about you," she replied.
"I'm sure I heard my name mentioned several times. We have very good hearing you know. For instance, I can hear your heartbeat increasing from here and I know you're lying."
"You're a regular lie detector, aren't you? The Republicans could have used you during the Impeachment." She snapped back at him. "It's just that some people are beginning to ask questions about us. You've been hanging around a lot and what was last night all about?"
"Look, I'm just making the best out of a bad situation. Don't worry, I'm not pining after you like that pathetic militia guy. If I didn't have this thing in my head I'd probably still be doing my damnedest to waste you. What kind of self-respecting vampire would I be chasing after a Slayer? I kill Slayers. I don't want to be your boyfriend. That's what soulful wankers like Angel are for."
Spike's whispered ranting became more of a roar and Joyce began to stir.
Buffy: "Now look what you've done, you woke her up."
Joyce open her eyes and said, "Spike, dear, will you go out to the nurses' station and get me some ice? My throat is so dry."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied, picked up the empty water container, and left the room.
"I'm so sorry mom, did we wake you up?" Buffy asked apologetically and reached for her mom's hand.
"No, dear, I've been awake for quite a while. You'd be amazed to know what you can hear in this hospital bed while everyone thinks you're asleep."
Shortly, Spike returned with fresh ice and water. He began pacing back and forth. "Look, I have to split for a while. Have to go shopping or something." Looking in Buffy's direction, " I'll come back for you when they get ready to toss you out."
He could feel the blood lust stirring him into action. The sounds and smells in the hospital filled his very being. It was as though he could hear the throbbing heart of every patient calling out to him. "Come, come feed on us." It was a smorgasbord of humanity and he was unable to satisfy himself. Pain and frustration swelled up in him as he fought to retain his human appearance. He prowled the corridors looking into rooms for anyone unconscious and receiving a transfusion or hope against hope, recently dead.
As he turned the next corridor a figure stood waiting for him. Ben held out the bag filled with the dark red fluid. Spike had waited too long to be civil. He grabbed the bag and bit into it. Blood oozed out between the opening and his mouth, dripping down his chin to the floor.
"Come in here," Ben said as he pulled Spike into the supply room, "You'll scare the hell out of the patients."
"More, I need more," Spike growled.
"I have plenty, even enough to satisfy you," Ben reassured him.
An hour later as hospital employees were coaxing visitors out of the building Buffy made her way down to the main waiting room. He sensed her before he actually saw her exit the elevator.
Spike leaned against the wall with folded arms waiting for her. "Come to me my golden beauty," was the incantation he recited over and over in his mind. "Come to me, come to me." She moved across the space between them with a growing expectation. It was killing time and she had a partner with nothing to lose.
"You seem pretty pleased with yourself. Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked as she got closer.
"I did okay, now let's go kick some demon butt."
It had been a good night four vampires were dusted at the cemetery and one more on the way inside the Bronze. Buffy knew that her friends wouldn't be there that late on a weeknight. This was madness being out in public alone with Spike, but she needed to unwind.
They ordered drinks at the bar and stood together silently listening to a local singer doing a remarkably good rendition of a Sarah McLachlan song.
Make me a witness
take me out
out of darkness
out of doubt
Spike leaned towards her and spoke, "Let's dance."
"What you and me?"
"I won't step on your feet, I promise." Spike offered his hand to her.
As she moved into position he slid his hand down to the top of her slender hips and pulled her close. The movement, flesh touching flesh, brought back the memory of him standing in the basement earlier that night, his alabaster skin and well-proportioned body completely exposed.
He watched conflicting emotions dance across her face and felt the slight flush of warmth through her clothing as she blushed. Was he the cause of this reaction? He had to play this very carefully. No fast moves. A shattered ego was a bitch to deal with and he felt too good tonight. Human blood coursed through his body not that cow shit. Everything about her excited him. She was so very pretty, but there were a lot of pretty girls in California. This one intoxicated him. He thought he had been safe in South America with his dark goddess, Dru, but this golden girl had called out to him across a continent. He had to taste her. Brushing his slightly parted lips down her cheek; the tip of his tongue barely touched her skin, on its salty journey to her mouth.
"Damn, they fit together so well," she thought. Was there something more to this creature. Faith had shown her how easy it was for a Slayer to succumb to the darker forces that may be the very source of their strength. Vampire, Slayer—were they two sides of the same coin? Would he bring her down or would she raise him up? She could handle this. Right?
is misery
made beautiful
right before our eyes
will mercy be revealed
or blind us where we stand
"This is the night." He thought to himself. A full stomach, a night of killing and his beautiful Slayer in his arms. He felt invincible.
will we burn in heaven
like we do down here
will the change come
while we're waiting
everyone is waiting