A/N: What if the resurrection spell went all wrong and Buffy came back as a blood sucking vampire? A prompt by BellaVision set in an AU at the start of season 6 Bargaining part 2.
Feedback is appreciated! Joss owns all characters.
Rating: T
Pairings: Buffy/Spike, Buffy/Angel, Willow/Tara, these will develop more in later chapters
Bargaining Undead - Chapter 1
Awakening
Every decision has a repercussion. We tend to choose the one that has the latest best-before date.
Willow leaned against a wide tree trunk in the dark forest. "Xander...wait a sec," she said gasping for breath. The ritual had left her body drained and she was suddenly regretting not eating that last peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Xander was supporting her by the arms and he looked at her with a big brother look of concern. "Don't worry, I just need a breather. That spell really knocked the wind outa me," she said understating the fact.
Even at night, she could see that handsome face start to edge into a frown. "You wanna tell me what the heck that was?" he whispered. "You do remember a giant snake crawling out of your mouth right? Because I remember it quite vividly. The cuts on your arms," he took a hold of her arms and turned them up showing her the large gashes. "What happened Will? I mean, did you know this was going to happen?"
Willow looked down at her arms but didn't show any sign they were bothering her. As strange as it sounds, her body was at an even pain level which meant no part of her was hurting more then another. She hadn't figured out if it was a good thing or not, but then again, her mind was focused elsewhere. "Did it work? Is she..." she asked hopefully, looking into his eyes.
Xander slowly shook his head.
The sound of a motorcycle rumbled in the distance and they quickly ducked down. "Don't these guys have anything better to do?" he said seeing headlights in the far bushes. "I can't imagine riding bikes in a forest is something at the top of their to-do list."
"Buffy Bot," Willow muttered. The robot was probably being torn to pieces but it felt like it was the real Buffy. A result from the hours of building and programming the metal Buffy to be just like the real one or at least close to her. She stood up pushing on his shoulders. "Let's go, we have to try again," she said flatly.
His head spun upwards. "What?" he whispered loudly. "Don't you think there's enough crap to worry about right now? We need to get to the others, make sure they're safe." Willow was staring into nothingness not listening to what he was saying. "Willow." He took her by the shoulder. "We'll try another way, we'll bring her back, I promise. Just not now."
She looked at him, her face devoid of expression. "Tara and Anya are waiting," she said walking away as if her pain had gone. Xander paused for a moment staring after her in confusion and then followed.
. . . . .
Why is everything changing so fast? Warm light was fading away. In an instant, Buffy was spiralling through a hole. Grey mist was swirling in circles around her and the air was becoming very cold. I can't think. The mist slowly faded and she found herself in complete darkness lying flat on her back. She felt around with her hands soon realizing she was in a rectangular box, and that was never good thing.
Oh god the smell. Her mind was clouded as if she was dreaming. She touched something soft above her, a fabric of some sort and she grabbed it with her fingers and ripped it away. Get out, I have to get out. Normally when someone is trapped in a tight space, they find it very hard to breath. Fortunately for Buffy, she no longer had to.
She had not realized it yet but even so, it was still a suffocating predicament. After getting past the fabrics, she felt something smooth like wood. She smashed it with her fists. Her super strength was still plentiful enough to break through but at the cost of the skin on her knuckles. Don't stop. Small granular objects were falling down on her and the rotting earthy smell was suddenly stronger now. She broke away the wood to make room for her head, and she furiously dug her way upwards.
Her hand broke through and she felt the cold wind of the surface. She pushed through with her other hand grabbing the surrounding grass and mud and pulled herself out. I was underground? She was exhausted, her hands and legs were throbbing with pain. Familiar...the air, this pain, is it real?
She made a circular scan of the dark forest and her eyes came to a rectangular stone sticking out of the ground. She squinted to read:
Buffy Anne Summers
Devoted Sister, Beloved Friend
She saved the world
A lot
Her eyes widened in shock and she began shaking. What...oh god I'm...
Her head spun to the sounds of screaming and the growling from a machine. She stumbled away from her grave not realizing her skin was paler, her hair was no longer blonde, and she was three inches taller.
. . . . .
Sunnydale. Car windows smashed, the buildings were on fire and a demon riding a motorcycle had nearly run Buffy over from behind. It's so barren. I'm dead aren't I. This is my afterlife, the end of the world. Do I have to save it again? Am I going to do this for all eternity? I can never die like a normal person. Her feet were beginning to ache and she looked down only realizing just then she was wearing black heels and a long black dress. She kicked off the shoes without much care for where they landed.
She heard muffled voices in the distance. It was a man's voice that was somewhat familiar. Buffy put a hand to her dizzy head. Why can't I think straight? She stumbled closer to the voices until she could understand their words.
. . . . .
"Dawn, pass it, the head," Spike beckoned.
"I really don't think she's repairable, she's in like, five pieces. And anyway, the head is attached to the body so instead of me bringing it to you, how about you bring the limbs to me," Dawn said.
He sighed, "Fine, whatever. You sure Willow can't patch her up? Dawn?" She was staring in the opposite direction looking a bit frightened. "What are you," he looked in the same direction seeing a woman in a black dress walking towards them although not very gracefully. She had dark brown hair and ghostly pale skin. His eyes widened, "What the bloody hell?" he gasped.
It was Drusilla. Spike stood up from his crouch and slowly walked towards her. She stopped and stared at him but she didn't have the usual expression Spike would expect. She looked terrified and uncertain as her arms shifted to wrap her body insecurely. He looked directly into her eyes, but she turned her head away. He was staring at her for what seemed like a whole minute.
"Uh Spike," Dawn spoke, "what's going on?" She took a gulp of air seeing the blood on Drusilla's knuckles.
Spike appeared to see the same thing but he looked more concerned. "Dru where, I thought you were in L.A.," he gently took a hold of her hands and studied them, "What happened to your hands?" Drusilla didn't respond. She was looking at the ground where the Buffy bot was lying in pieces. The head of Buffy happened to be positioned so it was staring directly at her. Drusilla's expression turned to panic.
"It's just a robot," Dawn said, "not the real Buffy." But the sight seemed to have frightened Drusilla and she turned to run away.
"Wait!" Spike grabbed her shoulder. "Dru."
"Stop calling me that," she snapped.
Spike let go of her shoulder. He was utterly confused.
"Wow, and I didn't think she could get any crazier," Dawn said watching the vampire walk aimlessly down the road.
Spike shot her a disapproving glance. "Stay close Dawn."
"You expect me to follow miss loony toon?"
"No, I expect you to follow me."
Dawn didn't want another patriotic speech about loyalty to big sister so she submitted. They walked side by side down the street following the woman in black.
