Apologies for the long gap between chapters. I've rewritten the first three scenes of this chapter so many times that I've lost count. I am finally happy with it now. If you wish to leave a review, they are always welcome.
It was midday when Buffy returned to her dorm room, frustrated that her search of the burnt out factory and Angel's old mansion had both been a waste of time. She knew Drusilla was in town somewhere, probably Spike too, and yet the two vampires remained infuriatingly elusive. She'd been hoping that they had gone back to using one of their previous hideouts as a base, which would've made her job in locating them a lot easier, but they'd clearly chosen to make things as difficult as possible. She had no clue where to look for them next, other than some place dark and gloomy. Half of Sunnydale fit that description. As she opened the door, she was greeted with the hopeful face of Willow.
"Did you find them?" the young witch enquired.
Buffy shook her head. "No such luck. They're not where I thought they would be."
"Oh." Willow did her best to hide her disappointment, it wasn't Buffy's fault that Spike and Drusilla remained at large. She went to the fridge and got out a juice box, piercing the top with the accompanying straw.
"Did Drusilla say why she was back in town, maybe let something slip?" Buffy couldn't help feeling guilty at the sight of Willow's crestfallen expression.
"I don't think so" Willow replied, taking a sip of the juice. "She was too busy trying to kill me and Xander."
"Figures" sighed Buffy. She removed the stakes from her bag and dumped them back in her closet where they belonged before noticing Willow's laptop open on the desk. "What are you doing?"
"Research" Willow answered sheepishly. "I thought if I could find any reports of fatal neck injuries from last night then it might help narrow the search, focus our attention on a smaller area."
Buffy gazed at her with concern. "Drusilla's attack has really gotten to you, hasn't it?"
"No!" denied Willow. "It's not Drusilla or what happened last night, not really."
"Then what's wrong?" Buffy put a comforting hand on Willow's arm. "You can tell me if something's bothering you, Will."
"It's just….." Willow tried to find the right words. "What's gonna happen when Spike finds out? I hit Drusilla with that bottle pretty hard, and you know what he's like about her, he's gonna want revenge. What if he comes after me?"
Buffy smiled reassuringly. "He's not gonna come after you, I'll make sure of it."
"How do you know that? You can't be around me all the time or Xander. What if he goes after Xander? What if he kills us? I don't want a bottle shoved through my face and into my brain! Buffy, please don't let him hurt me!" cried Willow, breaking down in tears. She'd tried not to dwell on the various ways Spike could torture and murder her, but now it was all her mind could think about.
Buffy pulled Willow tightly into a hug, it was upsetting to see her best friend in such distress. "I'm not going to let Spike hurt you or Xander" she promised. "I'm going to find them, both of them, and then I'm gonna stake them. They'll never get near you."
"Thank you" sniffed Willow, wiping her eyes. Feeling embarrassed at her mini-meltdown, she tried changing the subject. "How did your date with Parker go? I want details!"
"It went fine. Parker and I had…fun…last night." Buffy could feel herself involuntarily blushing.
"You mean fun of the horizontal kind?"
"Maybe….." Buffy didn't want to be the kind of girl to kiss and tell but Willow needed cheering up and if that was the topic that did it then so be it. "It was good…..he put a lot of effort in. Two thumbs up for effort."
It was Willow's turn to look concerned. "You don't sound like you enjoyed it?"
Buffy avoided eye contact. "It's not that I didn't enjoy it, I did, it's just that...um.…all the time we were…..you know….I just kept thinking of Angel."
"Is that why you didn't stay the night?" Willow knew Angel had been a sensitive subject for Buffy since graduation, so much so that it became an unspoken rule amongst the scoobies not to mention his name unless Buffy did so first.
"Kinda" admitted Buffy. "That and Parker's snoring was really annoying. Say what you will about Angel but he never snored... he didn't breathe so I guess snoring was never going to be an issue there, but honestly you should've heard it, it was like Darth Vader was in the room. I lied so I could leave and he was fine with me going but I want to make it up to him. Cupcakes are a good apology food, right? Or maybe cookies?"
"I guess" shrugged Willow. "Though I don't 'think you should apologise. You could've gotten eaten by a demon or something, all because he let you go in the middle of the night without walking you back. He should be apologising to you!"
Buffy laughed. "Will, I'm the slayer, I can handle myself. Besides, if a demon had been lurking, then Parker would've been the one getting eaten instead."
Willow knew her argument had been crushed by common sense. "Yeah…well…he didn't know that!"
Elsewhere in town, Xander was convinced life hated him. If being stood up on a date and nearly killed by an insane vampire the previous evening wasn't punishment enough, he was now having a very bad day. The only way it could get any worse was if somebody he knew saw him, thankfully Cordelia had moved to LA otherwise she'd have a field day. When he saw the ad for this job, he had assumed that it would merely be handing out Doublemeat Palace fliers and getting paid for it. If he'd known it would involve dressing as a giant cow on Maple Court, sweating profusely and repeatedly saying the same phrase over and over, then he never would've applied. Unfortunately he did and now had a job to do. "Moooooove yourself to Doublemeat Palace and try one of our delicious burgers. Fun for all the family. Doublemeat is double sweet."
"Xander?"
He recognised that voice. Plastering on a fake smile, Xander turned to face the young woman. "Anya! Last time I saw you, you were fleeing in terror and leaving everyone else to die. What brings you back to little old Sunnydale?"
"You of course" said Anya, straight-faced. "At least until I saw you in that terrible costume. How are you?"
"Great!" replied Xander sarcastically. "All my life, I've wanted to dress up as a giant cow. Now here I am living the dream!"
"Well that's a pretty crappy dream, talk about low aspirations" was Anya's blunt response.
Xander was unamused. "What do you want?"
"I think you and I should have sex."
Of all the answers he expected, Xander could honestly say that wasn't one of them. He stood there confused as his brain struggled to form something resembling a coherent thought. "Huh? What? Huh?"
Anya rolled her eyes at having to describe sex to the costumed man before her. "I thought we could go back to yours, take off our clothes and interlock our bodies until we both reach orgasm."
Xander still didn't understand. He knew what Anya was saying but not why she was saying it. Eventually, he managed to cobble together a sentence. "Look, I'm flattered that you would think of me in that way, and I'm sure you're a nice girl in your own special universe, but I don't love you."
"What's love got to do with it?" questioned Anya, failing to see the point Xander was trying to make. "I want to have sex with you so that my feelings for you will go away. It's simple logic."
"Not on this planet it isn't. Sex is about, and I'm actually turning into a woman as I say this, but it's about expressing a deep emotional connection to another person." Xander hoped his explanation would suffice as to why Anya's suggestion was a bad idea.
Anya ignored him and continued what she was saying. "I want to put you behind me, figuratively that is, though if you did want to take that position physically then I'm sure we could come to a compromise. I was hoping we'd be face to face for the act itself."
"I'm working. Go away!" Xander desperately wanted to extricate himself from this awkward situation.
Anya tried to be understanding. "I see. You're being paid by the hour to work and you're worried that, by spending time having sex with me, you will lose out on some cash. I will pay you if that makes things easier."
Xander couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You are not paying me to have sex with you!" he snapped, slightly louder than intended. Several people gave him strange looks as they walked past. Feeling that this particular conversation wasn't appropriate to be having in public, Xander beckoned Anya to follow him to somewhere more private where they could talk.
Meanwhile, underground, Drusilla watched gleefully as Spike slammed Brian's head into the table. "You had one job!" he snarled as the weaker vampire struggled feebly.
"If he can't see properly then we should poke out his eyes" Drusilla suggested wickedly. "Blow out the candles and make them pop!"
"No! Please don't!" begged Brian. "I can fix it! I swear! Just give me a chance to fix it!"
Spike tightened his grip round the minion's neck. Brian had screwed up. He'd informed them that it had been clear to dig their way into the crypt containing the Gem of Amara, and as a consequence they'd hit a water pipe. Water was now pouring steadily into the tunnel all because Brian had read a chart wrong. "Dru, love, do you want to play?"
"Yes" answered Drusilla, stepping forward eagerly.
As Spike passed Brian over, he grinned at the look of sheer joy on his lover's face as she received her new toy. "Have fun."
"I will." Drusilla allowed him to give her a quick kiss on the lips before he left to resume his quest for the gem. Once he was gone, she took great pleasure in dragging her nails down the side of Brian's face, drawing blood.
Brian trembled and quivered, praying to a god he didn't believe in that his tormentor would be merciful. He heard her giggle as her fingers came dangerously close to his right eye and could guess what was coming next, she'd practically declared her plans for him only a few minutes ago. Knowing there was only one way out of this situation, Brian hit Drusilla, catching her by surprise and knocking her to the ground. He was released from her grasp but his fate was now sealed, he could face a quick death by his own hand or a slow one by hers. Backing away as she got to her feet and advanced menacingly towards him, Brian picked up a discarded piece of wood and rammed it violently into his own chest so it would penetrate his heart.
Drusilla growled in frustration as she watched her plaything turn to dust. "Stupid Brian" she muttered to herself as she stomped back to the makeshift bedroom she shared with Spike. She had nothing to do now, nothing to do but wait for Spike to deliver on his promise. He'd worked hard to get her to take him back, and though she still didn't fully trust him after his betrayal, things were more fun when he was around. Drusilla sighed with boredom, wondering how long it would be before she could go out in the sunlight and kill the slayer's red-headed friend.
Back at UC Sunnydale, Buffy was secretly dialling Oz's phone number whilst Willow was using the bathroom across the hallway. It was a little odd that he had not been to see Willow at all that morning.
"House of Dingoes. What's up?"
"Devon? It's me, Buffy. Is Oz there?"
"Let me check." Buffy had to move the phone away from her ear as she heard Devon shouting from the other end of the line. "Yo, Oz! You here? Your girlfriend's hot roommate wants you!"
Oz's voice replaced Devon's. "Buffy?"
"What the hell are you doing? Why have haven't you come to see Willow?" Buffy whispered harshly so she wouldn't be overheard, she wanted an explanation from Oz and he'd better make it a good one.
"I'm on the phone to you and I've been in bed. It was a late gig last night. Is something wrong, you seem kinda angry?"
Buffy was unimpressed by Oz's casual attitude. "Damn right I'm angry! Willow nearly died last night and you've not bothered to come and see if she's ok!"
There was a moment of stunned silence. "Willow nearly died?"
From the sound of Oz's tone, Buffy realised that a step had been missed in their communication. "You didn't know?"
"No" Oz replied. "How is she?"
"A little shaken up, like quite a lot" answered Buffy, calming down. "She could really do with you here."
"I'm on my way. Tell her I'll be there soon."
Buffy hung up just as Willow re-entered the room. "Hey, good news!" she said cheerfully. "I called Oz and he's on his way."
Willow was annoyed by her friend's interference. "Why did you do that? You had no right!"
"Sorry, I thought you would want him here." Buffy was surprised by Willow's lack of enthusiasm. "Is something going on with you two?"
"No, everything's fine!" retorted Willow irately before taking a deep breath. She knew Buffy meant well. "I didn't tell Oz about last night because I didn't want to worry him. He's been busy with his band and…and I've been busy with my studies, last night's not important in the grand scheme of things. You shouldn't have called him."
"I'm sorry" apologised Buffy, not knowing what else to do. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Willow swallowed before nodding.
In an alley behind the magic shop on Maple Court, Xander was zipping up the front of his cow costume whilst Anya readjusted her skirt. He didn't know how it happened. They were supposed to be having a conversation on why it was a bad idea to be having sex with each other which somehow turned into them actually having sex with each other. Now there was an awkward silence.
"So I'm over you now" commented Anya, looking down at her shoes.
"Okay" Xander replied, gazing at the wall.
Anya was incensed. "Okay? Is that all you can say? Okay?"
"Yeah?" Xander subconsciously covered his groin area to protect his man parts from the former vengeance demon stood in front of him. Why did he forget she was a former vengeance demon who dealt revenge upon men like himself? "I thought that's what you wanted?"
"You are unbelievable" scoffed Anya in derision, rolling her eyes. "We had sex and now you're just going to walk off like I'm some cheap whore whose services you used!"
"If you were a whore, I would've paid you" joked Xander trying to relieve the tension. He knew immediately by the hurt expression on Anya's face that the joke not only hadn't landed, but had completely missed the landing zone. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."
"Then what did you mean?" scowled Anya.
Xander could feel himself sweating again. Whether that was a result of the sex, the costume or the pressure of trying to explain himself, he didn't know. "I just meant that you're not a whore because whores get paid to have sex whereas I'm not paying you….and I can tell that I'm not making this situation any better so how about I take you to lunch tomorrow as friends instead?"
Anya considered his offer. "So it would be like a date?"
"As friends" re-emphasised Xander, not wanting Anya to get the wrong end of the stick. Taking her to lunch was purely a platonic apology for his bad joke.
"Ok" agreed Anya. "I'll see you at your place tomorrow. Be ready by twelve."
As she left, Xander was hit by a realisation. How did she know where he lived?